Lando Norris Had ‘Fun’ During Italian GP Clad in Valentino Rossi Merchandise

Published 09/11/2019, 9:43 AM EDT

Follow Us

McLaren driver Lando Norris is a massive fan of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi. So, during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, he decided to pay tribute to his idol. In fact, he called it “a lot of fun” to race with custom kit as he had a Rossi-themed helmet.

At the British Grand Prix, Norris’ dream came true as he managed to meet the Yamaha rider. During that race weekend, Lando Norris took advantage of the meeting to stock up on Rossi merchandise, including a Doctor-themed bucket hat that he wore on a live stream on Twitch.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

He even fashioned his helmet and race boots to match Rossi’s designs, after getting Rossi’s approval. Norris even brought the bucket hat to Monza, wearing it in the garage and on the grid ahead of the race.

“It’s been good fun, as much as some people thought I looked like an idiot, which I probably did,” Norris revealed to Crash.net.

“You know when you can just tell. They say ‘nice hat!’ but you can just tell they’re like ‘what an idiot!’ I saw a lot of faces like that…

“But I honestly couldn’t care less. I enjoyed myself. It’s not like I’m going to be wearing that hat every weekend, it’s just this weekend.

“It’s been very enjoyable for me, I’ve loved it, especially having the Rossi-related helmet and boots and so on. I had a lot of fun. That’s all that matters.”

via Imago

That weekend was a difficult one for Lando Norris, owing to an engine penalty. However, he managed to scythe his way up the order to finish the race 10th..

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“The VSC helped a few drivers such as [Sergio] Perez, almost [Pierre] Gasly. So it could have been better for us, but it wasn’t,” Norris said.

“I think in terms of the race, P10 was probably almost as good as it was going to get. We weren’t far away from getting [Antonio] Giovinazzi on the last couple of laps.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“I know there are things I can improve on and do a bit better on, nothing major that was going to be positions-worth and loads of points worth.

“But one point is better than no points, so I’m still happy.”

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Dhruv George

14,311Articles

One take at a time

Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
Show More>