I planned to post a new essay tomorrow, but while scrolling Tumblr this morning I learned it has been one year since the publication of this Vogue UK article that was instrumental in creating the last essay for my thesis.
The following piece is a cento. All words come from articles written about McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris between 2023-2026. Works cited below (will be tinkering with how best to display exact references).
A curve of glass, scythe through traffic, slicing through woodland outside Woking. Faint scar on his nose where it got cut dragging a historic team back to the front of the grid.
On paper: ferocious competitor.
In person: disarmingly charming.
He is gentle, introspective, vulnerable, and occasionally uncertain. Quick, cheeky, a bit paranoid. A rare mix of skill, popcorn, pretzels, focus, fearlessness, mango, a club sandwich, and some banana bread. He rhapsodizes about his team. He has very long eyelashes. He appears in an expressionless room in the bowels of a racetrack garage, unflinchingly honest with himself and the wider world. No surprise for a self-confessed over-thinker; the dam could burst at any second.
From mystery-shrouded sport into soap opera, process what has happened to him this year. (Deserving or not is an irrelevant question, unexpectedly fatalistic for a driver perched on the precipice of incredible success.)
The montage, a sequence, cinematic in its presentation. A film of his life. A film in which he was the star. Ten months of motor oil, pole positions, and champagne-drenched podiums—not all gas and machismo.
Little Lando, the go-karter, accomplished an awful lot on the racetrack. Poster boy for thoughtful petrolheads. Prove the old adage wrong: nice guys don't have to finish last. Look what became of him.
I'm watching from above. Like God!
Do it from my view, my eyes, what I saw: a world that exists in its own microcosm of extreme pressure, two hours on the edge of control every Sunday.
He casts his eyes heavenwards.
In a hundred years no one's really gonna care about anything I've done.
My time's coming. Little me, odds-on title favorite. There's more opportunity than ever before.
I just want to enjoy my life without losing the liberty of who I am, something thrillingly alchemical, almost subversively rational, as raw and emotional as it gets. I am sound and fury, self-deprecating good humor draped over a focused hunger for success. I like sour sweets, flawless ease, clinical calm. I don't want made-up scripts and fabricated nonsense. I hate being bad at things. I hate to not be in control. I probably care too much.
A young star at the altar of joy and honesty, used to carrying the weight of being watched.
The countless hours culminate in a few moments. I'm still here and I have to do the whole thing again.
You're very much in control. Until you're not.
That's racing, you know.
Works Cited
Benson, Andrew. “Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Lando Norris Produces ‘champion’s Weekend’ but Max Verstappen ‘Shines Brightest.’” BBC Sport, 9 Nov. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/c709v70zdgwo.
Cary, Tom. “Lando Norris Interview: ‘You’d Be Stupid Not to Say We’re in the Title Race.’” The Telegraph, 27 June 2024. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2024/06/27/lando-norris-formula-one-lonely-british-grand-prix-2024/.
Cary, Tom. “Lando Norris: Max Verstappen Would Not Have Won Title in a McLaren – History Proves It.” The Telegraph, 22 Nov. 2024. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2024/11/22/lando-norris-interview-max-verstappen-red-bull-mclaren/.
Chan, Tim. “Lando In the Driver’s Seat: F1’s Boy Wonder Talks Luck, Life Lessons and Leaving a Legacy.” Rolling Stone, 11 July 2025, https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/lando-norris-british-gp-silverstone-interview-hilton-mclaren-1235379609/.
Foster, Michelle. “Lando Norris Responds to Wild ‘given the Championship’ Theory after Mexico Booing.” PlanetF1, 27 Oct. 2025, https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-norris-responds-wild-given-championship-theory-mexico-city-gp-booing.
Hinchcliffe, James. “HINCHCLIFFE: Why I’m so impressed by Norris’ unconventional and unflinchingly honest approach to his racing.” Formula 1, 27 Apr. 2025, https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hinchcliffe-why-im-so-impressed-by-norris-unconventional-and-unflinchingly.4c1kMrpoZjd8oizEYUkVmL.
Hudson, Molly. “Lando Norris: I Didn’t See Myself as World Champion, Unlike Some People.” The Times, 3 Mar. 2026, https://www.thetimes.com/sport/formula-one/article/lando-norris-interview-mclaren-f1-2026-rvglxt60v.
Karpov, Oleg. “Who Slept Best Last Night: Lando Norris.” Motorsport.com, 8 Dec. 2025, https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/who-slept-best-last-night-lando-norris-10783323/10783323/.
Lloyd, Kate. “‘I Want To Enjoy Every Minute That I Can’: For F1 Heartthrob Lando Norris, Success Arrived At Full Speed.” British Vogue, 19 Sept. 2025, https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/lando-norris-interview.
Luckhurst, Phoebe. “Lando Norris: ‘Being Happy with Myself Isn’t Easy.’“ The Times, 4 Apr. 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/uk/young-power-list/article/lando-norris-interview-8dqllnsl3.
Richards, Giles. “‘I Still See Title as Quite Distant’: F1 Leader Norris Not Hedging Bets for Las Vegas GP.” The Guardian, 21 Nov. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/nov/21/f1-leader-lando-norris-not-hedging-bets-title-las-vegas-gp.
Richards, Giles. “Lando Norris: ‘You Don’t Have to Have a Killer Instinct to Be World Champion.’” The Guardian, 4 Apr. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/04/lando-norris-you-dont-need-a-killer-instinct-to-be-world-champion.
Samuel, Martin. “Tears, Vodka and a ‘Regrettable’ McMuffin: How Lando Norris Celebrated World Title”. The Times, 8 Dec. 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/sport/formula-one/article/lando-norris-world-champion-family-party-mcdonalds-nfl6g8rcn.
Scherr, Elana. “McLaren F1 Driver Lando Norris Says Minivans Are Cool and Golf Is Harder Than Driving Formula 1.” Car and Driver, 16 Nov. 2023, https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a45854875/mclaren-f1-driver-lando-norris-interview/.
Smith, Luke. “Lando Norris Feels No Pressure as F1’s Winner-in-Waiting: ‘My Time Is Coming.’” The New York Times, 13 May 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5460721/2024/05/01/lando-norris-f1-first-win-mclaren/.
Smith, Luke. “Vulnerable and Open, Lando Norris Is a Rare Kind of F1 World Champion: ‘I Won It My Way.’” The New York Times, 8 Dec. 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6870314/2025/12/08/lando-norris-2025-world-title-analysis/.