lando norris
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IT’S ONLY FITTING that Lando Norris FaceTimes me from inside a car. But no, itā€™s not his exclusively commissioned McLaren, and this isnā€™t a Grand Prix. Instead, Iā€™m catching the Formula One driver on his day off, and thereā€™s a lot more to the guy behind the wheel.

Besides the fact that Norris partakes in the highest class of international formula racing, heā€™s a pretty chilled-out 23-year-old. ā€œIā€™m a hoodie guy so my closet is really just full of hoodies,ā€ Norris tells me. ā€œI donā€™t know why, but itā€™s probably because they give me a mix of comfort and wanting to be a little bit incognito at times. Yeah, I normally just wear that. Iā€™m not too fussy with it.ā€

lando norris
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The British racer brings his stylistic nonchalance to his latest campaign with Tumi, effortlessly blending together two of his key interests: travelling and racing. Norris says, ā€œI guess it started with McLaren and Tumi is a partner of McLaren. But we wanted to extend that partnership and do something more personal.ā€ He shifts in his seat and continues, ā€œIā€™ve always been a big fan of design and creativity. I know Iā€™m not the most fashionable person, but Iā€™ve always been into fashion and things like it, so I just think this was a great opportunity to try to bring two different worlds together.ā€

But thereā€™s a third world about Norris that many people donā€™t knowā€”the Lando world, the world that exists beyond his work and travel. Itā€™s not every day you get to chat with a Formula One driver, and this one in particular has a lot going on behind the scenes. From his shoe game to his pre-race non-negotiables, Norris fills me in on what it takes to be in the driverā€™s seat. And off we go.

Three words

I guess thereā€™s three sides to my style. Thereā€™s comfort. For me, I always love to travel in comfort so Iā€™m wearing stuff that doesnā€™t necessarily need to be fashionable, but stuff that I can sleep in. Because I travel so much, I don’t want to feel like I have to uphold how I look. I just want to travel how I want to travel. Itā€™s such a big part of what we doā€”including my performance and making sure I sleepā€”so being comfortable is my most important thing. Then thereā€™s the work side of it. Whether Iā€™m at McLaren or at the racetrack, I normally get told what to wear so Iā€™m not really allowed to wear what I want. And then you have the side of going out with my friends. I wouldnā€™t say I wear the most ā€œout thereā€ clothes, but I like my shoes, and I normally travel with about the 10 to 12 pairs I can fit. Which everyone makes fun of me for. Thereā€™s three different worlds that I live in: the work, the comfort, and the fun. For classy wear, I think Iā€™ve got every different colourway of Zegnaā€™s Triple Stitch sneakers. Theyā€™re just like a smarter shoe; I can wear them at work, and I can wear them out.

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Aesthetic Adventures

Itā€™s been great to get to work with some of the guys from Tumi to introduce racing to luggage and travel, and trying to merge them in a way. Weā€™re adding racing style, performance, and aesthetics to another world through carbon fibre and lightweight materials, which is pretty cool. And I enjoy adding the creativity and the fun into this because I love having inputs and helping improve little things here and there. So yeah, this is what weā€™ve come out doing, and Iā€™m happy.

Non-Negotiables

Before I race, there are two things I always do. One is that I always have the same food and drinks every single weekend. I rarely change away from what I like so itā€™s normally the same thing: water and chicken teriyaki with rice, in case you were curious. The second is that every Sunday before the race, I go around and fist bump all of my mechanics. Itā€™s something I have to do. I always make sure I leave time to do this. I donā€™t think any other driver does it. But for me, Iā€™m very much a team player. I always want to make sure I include the team and wish them luck because they do the pit stops and they manage a lot of other things during the race. So those are the two things that I have to do before I race. If I donā€™t, then I get a little paranoid. Like I donā€™t know whatā€™s going to happen if I donā€™t do these two things.

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As a Passenger

If itā€™s a long, long trip, I have to be a passenger just because I want to be able to sleep. For short tripsā€”like driving to the track in the morningā€”Iā€™m often quite happy driving because I am a terrible passenger. Itā€™s when the person whoā€™s driving thinks that theyā€™re really good at driving when theyā€™re not. Thatā€™s when I start to get a little bit nervous. Itā€™s not that I feel sick or anything, but I just donā€™t have a lot of confidence in other people. It makes me a little bit nervous that if theyā€™re driving a Formula One driver, that they suddenly think theyā€™re a Formula One driver. Thatā€™s the thing that concerns me every now and then.

An Irk

Attitude. I feel like Iā€™m a very down-to-earth, normal kind of guyā€”not so much because of the position Iā€™m in or who I am or whateverā€”but just the attitude for me that I see the most within people. That will make me like a person or not like a person the most. The most important trait someone can have is kindness and respect. Then I feel like weā€™re gonna get along and everythingā€™s gonna be good.

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Proudest Moments

I remind myself of the position that Iā€™m in because I know that Iā€™m very lucky to be doing what Iā€™m doing. But at the same time, to achieve some of the most difficult things to achieve in life, to get on the podium…I guess I have not achieved the race win yet; thatā€™s my next goal. The percentage of someone in life achieving these things is so, so tiny. To have the knowledge that Iā€™m one of those people and the amount of work, time, and sacrifice that Iā€™ve put into something to have achieved all of thatā€”Iā€™m just very happy and proud of myself. Specifically, my first podium, and my podium last weekend in Silverstone in front of my home race. Those are things that Iā€™m gonna remember forever.

Lando Norris for his Tumi “Essentially Beautiful” campaign | TUMI

This article originally appeared on Esquire US.