Lando Norris on racing his heroes Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso: "Such a crazy thought"

Lando Norris grew up watching Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on his screen, and now he has been racing against them since he entered Formula 1 in 2019. While the McLaren driver has been racing against the two-time and seven-time champions for some time now, he revealed that he doesn't always feel like he is 'one of them'.

"Watching Formula 1, Fernando, Lewis, you know, this is like '07," Norris explained to Quadcast. "Fernando, Lewis, Jenson [Button], all of the coolest races that ever happened and like wow, that’s so cool watching them. I would wake up at 3am, 4am, to watch some of these races. And now that’s me.

"Some of these guys are still racing. It’s such a crazy thought. I don’t know. It’s hard to say in words that that is now me. That’s what I once never even thought was possible."

When quizzed on whether he was starstruck when he came out of the pits on his Formula 1 debut in 2019 behind Hamilton and Alonso, Norris explained:

"You still have that little - I was like, 'Oh my god, it’s Fernando!' you know? And the thing is, I’m still - maybe not quite as much like that because I’ve grown a bit - but I’m still like that. I’m still like 'wow, I’m racing Fernando and I’m racing Lewis'.

"100%," he added when asked if he still looks up to Hamilton and Alonso. "Even though you want to beat them, and they’re competition and you have little squabbles and little fights every now and then, and you say some abuse to one another every now and then in the cooldown room. I’m still like, man, this is cool.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images

"I’m racing Fernando and Seb [Sebastian Vettel], and these are some of the greatest that have ever been in the sport. And I’m racing against them, and I’m chatting with them.

"There’s a lot of moments when I still feel like I’m just at home and I’m sitting on my sofa. But I’m racing in Formula 1 against the best guys in the world, in this sport."

Although Norris is currently fighting for his first drivers' championship against his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and now has nine career F1 wins, 38 podium finishes and 13 pole positions to his name, he confirmed that he "sometimes" doesn't feel like 'one of them'.