after clinching Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championship
Incredible talent Lando Norris continued to re-write the record books after taking his third title of the calendar year this weekend (1-2 October).
The 16-year-old was crowned the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup champion at Hockenheim, a week after taking the Eurocup Formula 2.0 title and eight months after securing the New Zealand TRS. And in making it a famous hat-trick of wins, the records continued to tumble along the way.
The Josef Kaufmann Racing driver became the youngest ever winner of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup - taking the accolade from Carlos Sainz Junior who has gone on to F1 fame with Toro Rosso.He is also the youngest winner to take both that title and the Eurocup Formula 2.0 title in the same season – with Filipe Albuquerque, the only other driver to do so, going on to win the Race of Champions in 2006.
A delighted Lando said: “It feels really great to get another title – it’s been an amazing season.
“I went into each Championship hoping to win them, but it’s gone better than I expected or could have hoped for. I won last week’s title with a round to spare and although this one was only with a race to spare, it came after two DNFs. It’s nice to be breaking a few records as well. To know I have not only won the Championship, but set a record or two, make them even more special.”
Lando secured his 10th pole of the Championship in the first qualifying, although could only get P10 for the third race after an over-steer saw him lose some time. He managed a P3 for race 2 in the second qualifying session.
The Somerset racer had a problem with his clutch at the start of the first race that saw him drop into second.Torrential rain saw the introduction of red flags and safety cars which left only four racing laps and Lando in second at the end.With the points on the board and the title almost won, Lando drove cautiously in the second race, dropping down to fifth, but getting back into fourth by the finish.With Lando now having already won the Championship, he could relax and enjoy the final race – pulling move after move to overtake the other drivers in front of him and finish third from 10th place.Impressively, it was Lando’s 11th podium of the Championship, with six wins along the way.
Lando has set plenty of records on his way to taking his ever-growing collection of titles. Last week he became the youngest ever winner of the Eurocup Formula 2.0 title, while on his way to winning the New Zealand Toyota Racing Series in February, he became the first Briton since Sir Jackie Stewart in 1967 to win the Grand Prix season finale.
The three titles this season come hot on the heels of his success in last year’s inaugural MSA Formula Championship and he signed off from his title-packed karting career in 2014, as the youngest ever World Championship winner – taking the accolade off Lewis Hamilton. And his super talents are not going unnoticed, with even F1 legend Mark Webber tipping the teen to be the next British F1 star this week.
Lando added: “It’s great to be mentioned by people like Mark Webber, especially after the amazing career he’s had. It hopefully means I’m doing something right. I’m going to enjoy this win, but keep working hard on and off the track.
“Again, I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me to these titles this year, from my family and the Joseph Kaufmann Racing team to ADD Motorsports, Pap and Louise.”
