Driver Profiles: Norris and Ricciardo (McLaren)

McLaren Formula 1 team was founded by Bruce McLaren in 1963. It is the second oldest team on the grid and the second most successful active team after Ferrari. The team's headquarters are in Woking in the UK, based in the iconic McLaren Technology Centre. In the team's history, it has won 8 Constructors Championships, 12 Driver's Championships and 182 races with driving legends such as James Hunt, Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Jenson Button. The team's current drivers are Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.

Lando Norris #4

Lando Norris is a 21- year- old British-Belgian, who drives under the British flag. His F1 career started at McLaren in 2017, after signing as a junior driver for the team, where he tested the car midseason at the Hungaroring. He was then confirmed later that year as the test and reserve driver for the 2018 season, before being given a full-time seat for the 2019 season. His first season as a full-time driver for the team had a few retirements, however, the 2020 season saw Norris take his first podium in Austria which was accompanied by many other positive results, helping the team earn P3 in the Constructors Championship. Before F1, Norris was very successful in F3, Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series, as well as other karting series. The young driver is known for his social media presence, particularly with his Twitch streams over the recent lockdowns, being branded as a 'full-time streamer' who 'drives in Formula 1 every now and then too'. He has recently set up his own esports and lifestyle brand called Team Quadrant and is thought to be a future F1 champion in the making!

Daniel Ricciardo #3

Daniel Ricciardo first full-time F1 seat was at Toro Rosso in 2012, having tested for Red Bull during 2009 and 2010. He was confirmed at the Toro Rosso's test and reserve driver for the 2011 season before taking his seat at the team the following year. During 2011, he drove for HRT from June onwards, replacing Narain Karthikeyan for the remainder of the season, with the exception of India. After driving for Torro Rosso for the 2012 and 2013 season, Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull were raced until 2018. Here he had 7 P1 finishes, taking the podium 29 times in total, with 2 P3 finishes in the Driver's Championship. However, it was announced that the Australian would be taking a seat at Renault for the 2019 and 2020 season, which surprised many. Here he took the podium twice and announced his move to McLaren in May 2020. Before signing as a Red Bull Junior Driver, Ricciardo was successful in British F3, Formula BMW UK and Asia as well as Formula Renault 3.0. The 31-year-old is known on the grid and to F1 fans for his sense of humour and seems to be loved by everyone. It will be exciting to see what he can do at McLaren.

Other Drivers

McLaren's share reserve drivers with Mercedes, who have contracted Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries. You can read more about them here.