Last December, Lando Norris became the first Brit to win the Formula 1 drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton, ending Max Verstappen’s run of four consecutive championships to win the crown for the first time
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Lando Norris is Britain’s 11th F1 world champion and will use the number one next year(Image: Getty Images)
British Formula 1 champion Lando Norris has revealed David Beckham was among the famous faces who sent a congratulatory message following his title triumph. The 25-year-old made history last December by clinching the F1 championship, holding off a late-season charge from Max Verstappen to stop the Red Bull driver’s streak of four consecutive crowns.
After celebrating into the early hours in Abu Dhabi, Norris wasted little time getting back behind the wheel, taking part in post-season testing just days later. The McLaren star then enjoyed a well-earned winter break away from the spotlight before returning to action at last week’s pre-season shakedown in Barcelona, getting his first taste of the new car.
Speaking on The Fast and the Curious podcast as he resumes his media commitments, Norris opened up about the flood of congratulations he received after his championship victory.
When quizzed about the messages, he confessed: “Honestly, I’ve not read half of them! I have so many that I’ve not even looked at. I need to, but it takes quite a while. I have probably replied to half of them.
“So, I’ve still got four days of trying to just go through every single one, whether it’s on Instagram or on WhatsApp or something, but there’s just a lot of amazing people. There’s a lot of people from different sports.
“Whether they’re incredible at the sport, like one of the best, or they’re people that I’ve watched growing up, young people, old people. When you see something like that, the amount of support you get or just congratulations and respect is something that I admire a lot. It’s a beautiful thing. But I do apologise to anyone that I’ve not responded to yet.”
When quizzed if football legend David Beckham had been in touch, Norris revealed: “We speak every now and then about different things. He did send me a message. David is always great. He’s in the garage every now and then in Bahrain, Qatar, and a few different places. He’s a cool guy, so it’s always nice when his name pops up for sure.”
For football fans, Beckham’s name is synonymous from the iconic number seven he donned on his jersey during his illustrious career with England, Manchester United and Real Madrid, among others. Meanwhile, Norris has made a name for himself among F1 fans with the number four emblazoned on his car, even using it in his personal brand ‘LN4’.
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David Beckham was one of those who reached out to congratulate F1 champion Lando Norris(Image: Getty Images)
However, this year he has abandoned it in favour of the number one he is entitled to use as the reigning champion, explaining: “It’s tradition, it’s there for a reason. It’s there because you can go and try grab it and you can work hard to try and get it. All of us as a team that gets to have a role in McLaren, or my car, will get to wear that with pride.
“It’s all my mechanics, my engineers, everyone that’s part of McLaren gets to have that acknowledgement too. So, it’s not for me, it’s for them as well. It’s their pride, knowing that they put a lot of work and effort into everything that they can also go, ‘We are number one’. It’s not as cool when you say, ‘We are number four’, so they will be even happier than I am!”
