McLaren driver and F1 2025 Championship chief Lando Norris has been testing World Rally Championship (WRC) automobiles in secret, it has been claimed.
It comes virtually a yr after it emerged that an lively System 1 star has been testing rally automobiles away from the grand prix circuit.
Lando Norris ‘unbelievably good’ in secret WRC exams
Further reporting by Thomas Maher
Peter Windsor, the previous Williams group supervisor, revealed final summer time that a mystery Formula 1 driver has been trying out rally cars away from his F1 duties “in huge secrecy” with the unnamed particular person impressing on the phases.
The revelation sparked a frantic search to unmask the key rally tester on the F1 grid, with Purple Bull driver and reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen instantly dominated out.
Many assumed that Valtteri Bottas, the previous Mercedes driver, was the one on the centre of the claims having beforehand contested the 2019 Arctic Lapland Rally behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta WRC, the automobile pushed to consecutive titles by rally legend Sebastien Ogier in 2017/18.
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Talking to media together with PlanetF1.com finally yr’s Dutch Grand Prix, nonetheless, Bottas distanced himself from the rumours and insisted that it was “another person” concerned.
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll was spotted driving a rally car in the Fafe region of Portugal, dwelling to one of many world’s most well-known WRC phases, shortly earlier than the beginning of F1 2025 pre-season testing in February.
In a contemporary replace, nonetheless, Windsor has revealed that Norris is the thriller driver on the centre of the rumours, revealing the 25-year-old has confirmed himself to be “unbelievably good” on the phases.
In a current look on the Cameron Cc: YouTube channel, Windsor mentioned: “I do know Lando is a critical WRC fan.
“And I hope I’m not giving freely too many secrets and techniques right here once I say I do know he’s out in WRC automobiles and he’s unbelievably good.”
Norris’s McLaren group didn’t reply to PlanetF1.com’s request for remark.
It’s unclear which model of automobile Norris has been driving in his secret rally exams with simply three producers – Toyota, Hyundai and Ford – presently working on the highest degree of the WRC.
McLaren have been linked with a possible Toyota F1 engine deal earlier than the group introduced an extension to their buyer Mercedes deal till the top of the 2030 season in November 2023.
The connection between the 2 manufacturers resulted in Ryo Hirakawa, a member of Toyota’s profitable World Endurance Championship operation, being appointed as McLaren’s reserve driver in September 2023.
Hirakawa remained on McLaren’s books final yr and made his first F1 apply look on the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, the place he stepped in for Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
The 31-year-old not too long ago joined Haas, who introduced a landmark technical partnership with Toyota final October, because the group’s reserve driver following a brief stint in the identical position with the Alpine group.
Extra on Lando Norris and McLaren
With F1 contracts usually banning drivers from collaborating in harmful actions, it is usually potential that Norris has been taking part in WRC exams in a personal capability.
Norris is understood to be on good phrases with Oliver Solberg, the son of 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg and the present chief of the WRC2 championship, which is one step beneath the very best degree of rallying.
Solberg is sponsored by Quadrant, the gaming and way of life model based by Norris.
In a clip uploaded to the Quadrant YouTube channel in 2022, Norris is seen reacting to a sequence of dramatic rally moments.
At one stage, he says: “That’s the coolest factor on this planet.”
He later provides: “I wish to have a go in a single. I additionally really feel like I might die in a single.”
F1 drivers get a style of rally automobile racing is nothing new, with Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 World Champion, famously switching to the WRC after shedding his Ferrari F1 seat on the finish of 2009.
Raikkonen failed to complete greater than fifth throughout two seasons in rallying earlier than returning to F1 with the Lotus-Renault group in 2012.
Fernando Alonso, the two-time title winner, additionally contested the legendary Dakar Rally in 2019 throughout his two-year F1 sabbatical, flipping his Toyota en path to a distant thirteenth.
Alonso, who will flip 44 in July, revealed final winter that he is keen to return to the Dakar Rally when his F1 profession is over.
The Aston Martin driver additionally aired his want to strive his hand at extra typical rallying, with Alonso eager to expertise the totally different problem of working with a co-driver.
Verstappen’s father Jos, who made 106 F1 begins between 1994 and 2003, not too long ago took a category win on his European Rally Championship debut on the day his son took victory in F1’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
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