Lando Norris left the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday evening to join the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday morning and discover the legendary American circuit for the first time.
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The reigning Formula 1 world champion arrived while celebrations were still ongoing after Felix Rosenqvist‘s victory at Indy 500, notably during the traditional photos taken on the famous “Yard of Bricks”.
During his visit, Norris met up with his friend Conor Daly, visited the IMS museum with Roger Penske, played golf on the Brickyard course, filmed content with the CEO of McLaren Racing Zak Brown in the legendary motorhome “The Condor” used by the team in the 1970s, before meeting several media outlets in the Victory Lane.
Discovering the speedway oval
The day continued when the director of Arrow McLaren and 2013 500 Miles winner, Tony Kanaan (photo above), took Norris for several laps around the famous 2.5-mile oval.
“This is my first visit here,” Norris told RACER. “It’s incredible. Obviously, I just miss the fans. I think they are the most important part of this event. Indianapolis is one of the first circuits I remember from when I was a kid, especially thanks to the road course used in Formula 1 in the past. It was even one of my favorite tracks on the simulator, so it’s probably a track I’ve known longer than Silverstone.”
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Norris also expressed his admiration for the historical significance of the Indianapolis 500: “The Indy 500 is clearly the biggest race of the year. I couldn’t watch the whole race yesterday, but it’s really special to be here. I went to the museum with Roger Penske and was able to discover the entire history of this event, including seeing the winning car of Gil de Ferran in 2003, which was very moving. Seeing the evolution of this race from its beginnings to today is impressive. But I really wish I had been here yesterday to feel the atmosphere of the 300,000 spectators.”
A strong racing culture
Although Norris was initially supposed to be just a passenger during the demonstration laps, the Briton ended up taking the wheel of the Corvette pace car himself: “I’m the worst possible passenger. I hate being a passenger. But if there’s anyone I can trust here, it’s probably TK. So I was looking forward to it.”
The McLaren driver also took advantage of his visit to personally congratulate Felix Rosenqvist after his historic victory.
This appearance in Indianapolis once again illustrates Norris’s growing interest in the IndyCar world and major American races, just weeks after his very noticeable enthusiasm for Formula E in Monaco.
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