In the sign of Alonso and Verstappen
The path was opened by Fernando Alonso about a decade ago; then Max Verstappen followed, and now Lando Norris is lining up. After years in which once drivers arrived in the Formula 1 Circus they seemed to forget the existence of all other categories – even elite ones – of motorsport, this trend now seems to have reversed. The recent show put on by Max Verstappen at the Nurburgring and – before him – the incredible versatility shown by Fernando Alonso in moving from F1 to IndyCar and from endurance races even to the Dakar seem to have piqued other champions of the Circus to do the same.
The latest in time to show fascination with categories outside F1 was the current world champion, Lando Norris. The Englishman, after finishing the Canadian GP early due to a technical problem, decided to fly to Indianapolis, where a legendary edition of the 500 miles had just ended, to greet the McLaren team that had been engaged on the American track and see live the Borg-Warner Trophy, one of the most iconic trophies in the world of motorsport.
Never say never
His ‘guide’ was Tony Kanaan, former Indy driver who is currently the team principal of McLaren in that championship and who won the 500 miles in 2013. “Running the 500 miles? You never know. I don’t want to say no – Norris said – certainly I want to try things outside Formula 1. I love Formula 1 more than anything else, but at the same time I love everything. I love motorcycles, I love rally, I love IndyCar, in short, all racing in general. Whether it’s the Indianapolis 500 or simply IndyCar in general”. And to those who pointed out that McLaren could theoretically allow him to chase the Triple Crown, racing with its own team both in America and in the WEC, Norris hinted that he does not rule out a future ‘inspired’ by what Fernando Alonso has tried to do.
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“I won in Monaco, and the first part is done – Norris joked with journalists present in Indianapolis – I completed the first part of the challenge, now two more remain (Indy 500 and 24 hours of Le Mans). I never thought about trying to conquer the Triple Crown, but now I have already checked one of the boxes. It’s a warm-up for everything else – he joked – seeing Fernando trying and things like that always makes everything more tempting. So you never know. I would like to try. Maybe not a real race for now, but even just doing a lap here (in Indianapolis) with an IndyCar would be fantastic,” he concluded. Zak Brown can start taking notes. In the history of motorsport the only driver to have completed the Triple Crown was Graham Hill.
