Why Norris doesn’t expect Mr Nice Guy praise for much longer

Earning praise from rivals has been a welcome sign that Lando Norris is becoming established among Formula 1's elite. But the McLaren driver is confident that his team's upward curve can put him in the mix to contend for titles in the future, when he's hoping the compliments will be replaced by being deemed an equal adversary

Jonathan Noble Dec 2, 2021, 11:10 AM

Upd: Dec 2, 2021, 11:13 AM

It's fair to say that Lando Norris has had a bit of a breakthrough year in Formula 1. That maiden win may have eluded him (and you don't get much closer than what happened at the Russian Grand Prix), but the McLaren driver has ticked an awful lots of other boxes.

The 22-year-old has racked up some strong podium finishes. He's shone against his more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo, kept the Mercedes and Red Bull number two drivers under pressure in the points' standings, and been brilliantly consistent in terms of bringing home everything his car was capable of.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.