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Norris wants to do the Indy 500 – eventually
Lando Norris says he would love to race in the Indianapolis 500 one day, but probably not at this point in his career.
The McLaren driver has enjoyed an impressive start to 2021 and sits third in the F1 drivers’ championship after finishing on the podium in Monaco. But away from F1 he has also tackled a number of other races in sim racing – including the virtual Indy 500 last year – and with obvious links to the race through Arrow McLaren SP, Norris said it’s a career goal to race at the Brickyard.
“I watch it for sure,” Norris, who was a guest pundit on Sky Sports’ coverage on Sunday, told RACER. “Normally it’s the Monaco weekend. I watch it; I watch as many of the IndyCar races as I can. At the moment it’s not something I want to go and do right now, I’d rather just focus on (F1), but it’s something to think about in the future. I would love to do it at some point, but not at the moment.
When Norris compares the 500 with the Monaco Grand Prix, he says both races carry historic weight, but the unique challenge of Indy from a driving standpoint makes it an attractive proposition.
“It’s also the history that makes it so special," he said. "In my eyes, I’d rather win a championship than just win Monaco. The amazing thing about winning Monaco is the history of it, because if you’re on pole and can lead into Turn 1 it’s almost like a guaranteed win in a way, so it’s not like you do anything incredible to win.
“(At) Indy, you have to do something more incredible to win with your strategy, your fuel, and things like that. Monaco not so much, but what makes it special is the history of Monaco. I’m not as much of a fan of the history of the sport, but you just want to win because it’s Monaco.
“I think Indy’s more like a prestigious event that people look forward to because it’s so unique and so different to anything else you normally see. So it is something I’d like to do.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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