Featured Image Credit: F1TV
Topics: Formula 1, Lando Norris, McLaren, Fan Reactions
Ryan Smart
Lando Norris' father, Adam, has been criticised for comments made in an interview after his son won his first F1 Drivers' Championship.
Norris finished in third place in Abu Dhabi to secure the title by two points ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who won the race.
His McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri finished 13 points behind after his second-placed finish in Abu Dhabi.
Norris, 26, won seven Grands Prix on his way to the title, though the battle was taken down to the last race after both McLaren drivers were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
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Norris' father Adam, and mother Cisca, were both present at the Yas Marina Circuit to celebrate Norris' triumph, along with other members of his family.
His father is one of the richest people in Britain, having been ranked 610th on the 2022 Sunday Times Rich List with a reported net worth of £200 million.
Norris began racing at around seven years old and was described by his former F2 boss Trevor Carlin as 'one of the trailblazers of the new approach to the sport whereby his time was totally dedicated to improvement, whether that be mental, physical or actual driving'.
Carlin told 1996 champion Damon Hill for The Telegraph that Norris had 'zero life', in that he dedicated it to preparing for the ultimate goal of reaching Formula 1.
Adam drove his son around the country during his early years, and is near ever-present at Formula 1 races around the world.
Much like Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony during his first title-winning season in 2008, and Jenson Button's father John when he won in 2009, Adam's media profile has significantly increased as his son edged towards becoming the first British driver in 16 years to lift the Drivers' Championship.
He gave an interview to F1TV in Abu Dhabi after Norris' success - but fans have criticised him over one comment in particular.
"The places you'd go to, which no tourists would go to, you'd go to remote little tracks," he began.
"I loved the journey, I really enjoyed every part of that journey. But it was hard, really difficult.
"You all know that some of the other parents packed up, because they didn't want to do that. But I was there and the team was there, all the way through, to keep on going."
He was referring to his son's rise up the junior ranks - which notoriously comes at a significant cost for families.
Hamilton's father Anthony, for instance, worked multiple jobs to pay for the seven-time champion's early career, but he needed the support and sponsorship of McLaren, and their team principal Ron Dennis, from the age of 13 to guarantee his future in the sport.
In 2018, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated that drivers may need to pay up to £7 million to get into F1 - a figure that will have increased even further since as the popularity of the sport has risen.
Reacting to Adam Norris' comments, one fan wrote: "Their parents likely 'packed up' because of the insane costs associated with bringing a child all the way to F1."
A second said: "Didn't want to do or couldn't afford."
A third added: "I'm sure if my parents were billionaires they'd have stuck with it. But we aren't all lucky enough to afford paying for karting and then the higher levels of motorsport! This man lives in another world."
A fourth wrote: "Moronic, absolutely moronic."