Behind the wheel with Lando Norris
The Formula One driver talks pre-race routines, fashion preferences, his Tumi campaign, and more.

IT’S ONLY FITTING that Lando Norris FaceTimes me from inside a car. But no, itās not his exclusively commissioned McLaren, and this isnāt a Grand Prix. Instead, Iām catching the Formula One driver on his day off, and thereās a lot more to the guy behind the wheel.
Besides the fact that Norris partakes in the highest class of international formula racing, heās a pretty chilled-out 23-year-old. āIām a hoodie guy so my closet is really just full of hoodies,ā Norris tells me. āI donāt know why, but itās 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. Iām not too fussy with it.ā

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, āI 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, āIāve always been a big fan of design and creativity. I know Iām not the most fashionable person, but Iāve 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 thereās a third world about Norris that many people donāt knowāthe Lando world, the world that exists beyond his work and travel. Itās 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 driverās seat. And off we go.
Three words
I guess thereās three sides to my style. Thereās comfort. For me, I always love to travel in comfort so Iām wearing stuff that doesnāt 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. Itās such a big part of what we doāincluding my performance and making sure I sleepāso being comfortable is my most important thing. Then thereās the work side of it. Whether Iām at McLaren or at the racetrack, I normally get told what to wear so Iām not really allowed to wear what I want. And then you have the side of going out with my friends. I wouldnāt say I wear the most āout 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. Thereās three different worlds that I live in: the work, the comfort, and the fun. For classy wear, I think Iāve got every different colourway of Zegnaās Triple Stitch sneakers. Theyāre just like a smarter shoe; I can wear them at work, and I can wear them out.

Aesthetic Adventures
Itās 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. Weāre 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 weāve come out doing, and Iām 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 itās 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. Itās something I have to do. I always make sure I leave time to do this. I donāt think any other driver does it. But for me, Iām 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 donāt, then I get a little paranoid. Like I donāt know whatās going to happen if I donāt do these two things.

As a Passenger
If itās a long, long trip, I have to be a passenger just because I want to be able to sleep. For short tripsālike driving to the track in the morningāIām often quite happy driving because I am a terrible passenger. Itās when the person whoās driving thinks that theyāre really good at driving when theyāre not. Thatās when I start to get a little bit nervous. Itās not that I feel sick or anything, but I just donāt have a lot of confidence in other people. It makes me a little bit nervous that if theyāre driving a Formula One driver, that they suddenly think theyāre a Formula One driver. Thatās the thing that concerns me every now and then.
An Irk
Attitude. I feel like Iām a very down-to-earth, normal kind of guyānot so much because of the position Iām in or who I am or whateverābut 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 weāre gonna get along and everythingās gonna be good.

Proudest Moments
I remind myself of the position that Iām in because I know that Iām very lucky to be doing what Iām 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; thatās my next goal. The percentage of someone in life achieving these things is so, so tiny. To have the knowledge that Iām one of those people and the amount of work, time, and sacrifice that Iāve put into something to have achieved all of thatāIām 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 Iām gonna remember forever.

This article originally appeared on Esquire US.