Lando Norris: A Biography

by Ben Hunt

From established sports journalist Ben Hunt, the very first biography of the up-and-coming British driver Lando Norris, published on the brink of the British Grand Prix.

As the youngest ever British Formula 1 driver, Lando Norris is trailblazing his way through the world of motor racing. After signing as a junior driver for McLaren in 2017, he has since asserted himself as the team's brightest talent and an aspiring world champion.

Born to British and Belgian parents and raised in the idylls of south-west England, Lando's childhood reflects how even the calmest of upbringings can create an adrenaline junkie. As one of a new cohort of young drivers seeking to assert their dominance in the sport, Lando is a uniquely modern sportsman, who celebrates learning and personal development, but who nonetheless has the killer instinct required to take him to the very pinnacle of F1.

In Lando Norris, motor sport aficionado and journalist Ben Hunt draws on his extensive driver and paddock access to seek to understand what makes Lando tick and examines how this young British driver has been well and truly raised in the mould of a champion.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Sports, Audiobook

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2023

About the author

The world’s #1 nerd on how to design websites that work

It is impossible to estimate how many websites Ben Hunt has made more effective, through his articles (which have been read by millions), his books, or the hundreds of designers he has trained.

One of the most influential figures in web design, Ben has been a web professional, entrepreneur, and consultant since 1994.

Ben is a highly respected thinker with expertise in disciplines spanning direct marketing, SEO, content marketing, conversion rate optimisation, and usability.

He has written two extremely successful books. Incredibly, his first ebook, “Save the Pixel” has sold almost 10,000 copies direct to website owners and designers.

Ben’s second major title, “Convert!“, published by Wiley in 2011, is one of the top-rated online marketing books on Amazon. (Quote: doubled business, bible.)

In 2010, Ben launched his Pro Web Design Course, which goes beyond just teaching design, addressing everything a designer needs to build successful websites – and a successful business! (Here are some of the most recent testimonials about the course.)

Ben has a curious and restless personality, which has led him to create a range of solutions, including a content management system and SEO tools.

Ben is an international speaker, who has been invited to present at conferences including Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar, Drayton Bird’s EADIM, and Conversion Conference.

His latest ebook, “How To Be #1” a practical guide to dominating niche markets, was released in July 2012.

Reviews

[Anna Lingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Live, Laugh, Love Lando Norris

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got into F1 fairly recently after a lovely Lando Norris explore page takeover that came as an algorithmic result of sending any F1 related piece of media to my friend who had been trying to get me into the sport for quite some time. I genuinely did not think I'd ever get into F1, I used to watch occasionally in passing when my dad, F1 superfan, would turn the TV speakers on full blast every race weekend during my childhood. I'm not a sports person, or even a car person at that, so you can imagine my surprise when I would start wanting to spend my free time watching McLaren Unboxed or driver challenges to see more of Lando.

My first live grand prix watch was Brazil GP 2023 (literally less than a month ago) which ended up being a stellar race to hop in on, with Lando achieving sprint pole position (second F1 pole position ever!!!!!) and getting podium in the main race. I had told my friend I'd stay up to watch the sprint shootout & sprint race since they had told me it was a shorter race that might be a good entry point for me. I went in with no expectations and came out genuinely excited to watch more.

With winter settling in and my mood dropping with the temperature, it was the perfect time to jump into a new interest, and here we are. Lando biography!!!!! I knew a solid amount of Norris lore beforehand but this served as a great resource to catch up on his career thus far. I adored reading about how his personality has always been down to earth and sincere, how he truly cares about the people around him and is widely considered to be a kind, charismatic, and curious individual. I've gotten a much better insight into Lando's character and what drives him, you can see a lot of what was written about him play out in real time through post race interviews, and by following his media journey.

I found the focus on his mental health especially intriguing, how he prioritizes being open about his struggles in the interest of aiding others in their mental health journeys. It's so important for this sport to have someone like Lando to bring kindness and humility to the track while also striving to be the greatest and performing as best he can alongside the others on the grid.

It's only been a month since I was notified of Lando Norris' existence, but I'm immensely excited to see what the future holds for F1's young talent and I WILL! be there for his first win TRUST!

LN4 <3

[Thea’s Reading World &#x1f49b; · Rating 4 out of 5]

#108 in 2023


The Carlando crumbs in this book? 👌 Yeaaaah, baby.

Ok, but seriously.
I'm a new f1 fan, so I eat every information I run across. These biographies are a God send to rapidly recap their careers for me and Lando's was much more easier to read and enjoy than Verstappen's one.

I knew Lando Norris was impressive, but his past is more so. The races themselves, how close he was at Sochi to his first win and so young as well in a car that was not doing miracles.

The tidbits about his life and personal interviews were heartwarming, especially his struggles with mental health. We don't talk enough about how grueling the expectations and the schedule of F1 is on them. I'm 22 and I could not even imagine having that kind of life coming along with fame, lots of money and contractual obligations. Such a heavy burden on young shoulders.
How hard they are judged for every misstep, every single word they utter. Such hard scrutiny for these young men.

His friendship with Carlos and Danny, perfection. He was really lucky in terms of teammates.

If you consider reading this book, give it a try. Really informative, easy to digest and it includes quotes from Lando himself from interviews.

[Gabriela (taylor's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars out of 5.

'His contract with McLaren runs until the end of the 2025 season and both he and the team know that the clock is ticking to start delivering. Unless Norris is given a competitive car capable of fighting for championships, McLaren could risk losing their rising star to a competitor. For as his racing career has shown, Lando Norris has the potential to be the very best in the world.'

I find Lando to be one of the most gifted drivers on the grid right now. This book just highlighted his talent, his work ethic, etc. again and again. It was enjoyable to see his journey. I enjoyed Ben Hunt's positive response to any disappointing result but truthfully, no one is harsher to Lando than Lando himself.

The book was extremely well-thought-out. A quick but detailed 'look in the past' and his career so far. The commentary was clever and the text blended well with the interviews and the overall content of the book.

I recommend this read if you're looking into learning more about Lando or if you're just trying to get accustomed to the current grid drivers. It's comprehensive for casual readers but also appropriate for a more experienced audience. Impressively balanced writing.


I was given an ARC by Netgalley and I give this review voluntarily

[Martinaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

moooc hezka kniha, strasne moc useful informaci, prehledne popsana Landova kariera od uplnych zacatku, momenty z osobniho zivota...knizka mela vsechno

dobre se cetla, obcas tam bylo hodne technickych pojmu, ale uplne v pohode

myslela jsem, ze ho uz nemuzu mit rada víc..... MŮŽU, jsem absolutně in love a mam pro nej extremne moc respektu za vsechno, co pro McLaren obetoval a dokazal, vytahl McLaren doslova ze dna na vrchol a o to vic me boli sledovat tu vlnu nenavisti, kterou aktualne dostava (za nic btw)

chtela jsem napsat, ze kazdy fuckin hater by si to mel precist, ale vlastne nechci....pro ne je ta knizka moc dobra.....takze tak

i am so proud to be his fan, he deserves so much and i will happily watch him become a word champion.🧡

[Sofita · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 /5

[nell · Rating 5 out of 5]

lando, we can be world champion I said

[Kat(ja) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I was provided with a copy by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!*

As someone who is an avid F1 fan and has followed Lando Norris' career, I struggled with this biography. Much of the content was made of rehashed (public) press releases, social media statements, interviews and race stats. There was no real emotional hook or deeper insight into Lando's life beyond his ups and downs in various racing categories.

There were so many topics that were brushed upon (truly only crumbs) that I would have liked to know more about than a passing sentence or two. I want to clarify that I 100% respect Lando's privacy and am not talking about wanting to read more about his romantic relationships at all, but what about his friendships outside of the world of F1? What about his company "Quadrant"? His role in it and the team? What about his family on and off the track? Give me more about their feelings instead of explaining the term "Qualifying".

Final rating: 2.5 stars! I think there were a couple missed opportunities as I imagine a lot of the target audience is aware of how F1 races work and what happened the past couple years and would have preferred a more personal approach ...

[Alana Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved listening to this across a week/weekend where there was no racing. It’s also very sad to see that the internet has basically ruined the way we communicate with and about people. Lando gets a very had go online and I believe it’s because he’s largely misunderstood. His mental health, which is discussed in this book, shapes the way he talks to himself and about himself/his races which people perceive as negative and ungrateful. This kid is struggling with constant perfectionistic standards, imposter syndrome and depression and then layered on top of that is his dry, witty humour as a way of coping and we turn around and say “he’s a spoilt unappreciative brat who doesn’t deserve to be world champion”. Can you not see how counterproductive that is to his mental health? Anyway, I loved hearing about how he came up through the karting world, how he has such a strong work ethic, is loyal to McLaren beyond measure and is humble to his core. This guy DOES deserve a world championship ESPECIALLY with McLaren.

[Deity World · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but very detailed as talented as he is from winning his first race in 2024 there’s still more to come

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

some good insights into the driver. would have been nice to see more background to lando, rather than all about reviewing racing and team mates. but overall great insight

[Hailie Le Bas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing style just wasn’t for me

[Camiiii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice and interesting 🧡

[Francesca Punshon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-establishing my love for Formula one (on a far more technical level than before), after not watching it as much when I left for university (and leaning for towards the twitch streams when I worked out what twitch was) from the start of the 2021 season has been incredible.

It was something I grew up watching with my dad, and was one of the only sports I ever actually look interest in watching.

After realising how interesting perusing a law career (as I study this at university) would be, I re found my love for the sport. This meant my dear book seller friend was able to get me this biography.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a biography so for my first to be of someone who I genuinely really look up to as a person due to their realistic perspective on life and how they openly talk about their own struggles and fears and find that really refreshing.

Learning more about Lando was great and seeing his struggles from even before his F1 debut made me gain even more respect for him than I had before.

I recommend this book, to anyone who really enjoys motorsport, but wants a better look into the drivers side of things, their triumphs and their struggles and passions rather with a sprinkle of the legal logic behind Formula one. I definitely want to read other driver biography’s now and I think Ben Hunt did an amazing job of capturing Lando Norris’ person.

[Norma · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a pre 21st century long term fan of F1, I've enjoyed watching the rise and, sometimes, fall of talent amongst the drivers and the teams. Lando Norris stood out as someone special from the time he first partnered with Sainz so, although it was nice to be reminded of his racing successes, I'd hoped for a little more about his past and personality not just a rehashing of each race until 2023, I knew them already.
( Format : Audiobook )
"It's all about the end result."

So, personally, after the opening chapter, this was for me little more than an unnecessary reminder of his early achievements. And very dryly written, as if straight out of the newspaper reports, narrated in the same unemotional way by Fraser Blaisland.
However I concede that this book could be of interest to fans new to Formula 1, just discovering the sport and with it Lando's apparent sudden rise in the ranks of the drivers, his honest charm and openness when interviewed.

So for long term F1 followers, best not to bother. Great cover picture though.
But newcomers to the sport might find it interesting to.be able to trace back Norris' career especially, as seems likely, he succeeds in becoming World Champion. Otherwise, wait for the hopefully inevitable autobiography once he has succeeded. I'm sure that will be a book well worth waiting for.

[Alec ⟠]

Lando Norris is a biographical book all about formula 1 driver Lando Norris, and tells the story of how he worked his way up to the formula 1 stage in his life, becoming part of Team McLaren and meeting lots of other amazing people along the way. As someone with a developing interest in formula 1, I was very interested to read this book and find out more about what really goes on behind the scenes, and as Lando is my favourite driver, I wanted to find out more about him, and how he got to where he is today. I liked the way the chapters were laid out and found that although it was a short read, it was really interesting and I found myself wanting more. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in racing, McLaren, or Lando himself, especially those like myself, just starting to get into the sport.

[Tanisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC from Icon Books through NetGalley and this review is based on my own opinion.

The books is about Formula 1 driver Lando Norris.
It starts with a prologue about the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix where Lando got his first podium.

The writer takes you through Lando's journey to Formula 1 from his early karting days until the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season, highlighting all his important moments and races.

I have been a Formula 1 fan for a couple of years now but I still learned some new things about Lando in this book.

Hunt tries to explain much things in great detail so if you're just getting into Formula 1 or you're a newer Norris fan and want to learn more about him this would be a great book to read.

[Melina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough introduction to Lando Norris' racing career up to and including the 2022 season. I would recommend this to anyone interested in how the current batch of F1 drivers might have come up through the junior ranks.

Unfortunately, it became apparent the audiobook narrator hadn't been given pronunciation guidance for several of the people mentioned (two of whom were Norris' frequently mentioned teammates) which made it difficult to listen to at times.

[Sharon Valler: Live Love Read Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and interesting book about a future F1 world champion’s journey into the sport.

Lando Norris is a great personality- funny, creative, talented and of course a superb driver. Snippets of interviews, race stats and Lando’s personal life and hobbies are well documented here.

An essential read for any F1 fan 🏎️

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Ben Hunt and Icon for an ARC in return for an honest review.

[Dewi Preece · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read and an easy pleaser for most F1 fans, although not much ‘new’ for people who follow the sport relatively regularly. Reason I gave three stars is that as the book went on I felt it was quite a repetitive flow, and there was often significant repetition between setting up quotes and Press Release quotes which would often just repeat the leading par. I was reading this as he went on to claim his first win, which I won’t lie, was very cool.

[Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
A chronically retelling of Lando Norris’s path to F1 and his career. While covering his racing career it doesn’t go much into depth and leaves questions open. It feels more like a back and forth between the author and Norris himself.

Still, I would recommend this to people getting into F1 and it’s current grid. It’s a bit outdated but that is unavoidable with the fast moving F1 world. Easy to read and a good read for in-between.

[Ravi Narayanan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book felt more like a collection of interviews and facts than a well-woven narrative. It lacked the flow and emotional depth you'd expect from a compelling biography. While accuracy is important, presenting the story with more heart and passion would have made it much more engaging. After all, fans of Lando Norris are the ones picking up this book—and even though he hasn’t won a championship yet, there’s nothing wrong with building some excitement, as long as it stays grounded in truth.

[Kristen Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being fairly new fan to F1, and a Lando fan since inaugural Vegas GP, I was so excited to learn more about him! Ben gave wonderful insight into what makes Lando so captivating to fans! The amount of work he puts into his training is beyond, and I really enjoyed learning so much stuff I hadn’t known!

Even a bigger LN4 fan now!

[Courtney Bartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been a Lando Norris fan for a few years so was very excited to have this book released! Unfortunately most of the book is just press release or interview material used over the years. There wasn’t all that much in the way of who Lando is aside from his race stats. Would have loved more of an insight into his life outside of the track, upbringing and friends etc

[Maria Currant · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the love of god !!! Please please please use a narrator who can pronounce the drivers & tracks names !

This absolutely ruined the book for me !

I love Ben Hunts work and the book was fantastic but this narrator ruined it !!!

Will it put me off Ben Hunts work No but I will next time be checking its not this narrator Frazer Blaxland !!

[Joanna ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book itself was probably good. However, having listened to many of the driver biographies in audiobook, I can safely say I’ve never listened to a more appalling pronounciation by a narrator. It only takes a quick google to find out how to pronounce driver & officials’ names, as well as tracks & locations. Do 👏 better 👏

[Kevin Thang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this after Lando Norris has finally captured his first F1 race win in Miami. And thus the book already feels premature. But in reading it, it’s also allowed me to follow his journey from the beginning go karting days all the way to become the now leader of McLaren.

[kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

touched my heart

[Bia · Rating 5 out of 5]

my heart is so full, i love you lando norris ❤️

[alya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book to read if you're into F1, and Norris in particular. #LN4