Lando Norris, a McLaren driver, has revealed that Sebastian Vettel sent him a sincere goodbye message when they switched helmets last season. Drivers in Formula One frequently swap helmets as a sign of respect for one another. It is comparable to football players trading jerseys after a game. Lando Norris was one of the drivers that did that with Sebastian Vettel when he resigned last season.
Lando Norris shared the message Sebastian Vettel wrote for him on the helmet in a recent Twitch stream. This was the message:
After a nearly 15-year career, the German driver retired last season. Regarding Lando Norris, the McLaren driver faces a challenging season due to the vehicle’s shortcomings. The McLaren driver had a forgettable evening after finishing last in the first F1 race in Bahrain.
However, the driver has maintained his positivity and believes the team can salvage the season. Norris revealed that Jeddah could deliver for the team on that front and that points were possible for the team if reliability issues weren’t present. He said:
“After they realized I must box each 10 laps, we realized we would have been out of the race rapidly, yet we actually attempted to remain in it as far as might be feasible. This is why we only finished two laps before retiring.
He added:
“I think we’ve scored focuses in the past in Jeddah and there’s no great explanation for why we shouldn’t have scored [in Bahrain]. We have high hopes for the remainder of the season because we still believe we can score points with the vehicle we have.”
Sebastian Vettel called Aston Martin to express his appreciation for the team’s victory in Bahrain.
Mikey Brown, Fernando Alonso’s (formerly Sebastian Vettel’s) race engineer, revealed in an interview with the PitStop podcast that the German had contacted the team to congratulate them on the podium. He said:
“Seb managed everything well with everybody in the group, not simply me. He expressed his happiness for us in a message he sent me on Sunday following the race. In my humble opinion, getting this podium was not a result of luck. The podium deserved it. On the track, we were able to catch Mercedes and Ferrari. Although Leclerc didn’t finish, it was still a good podium.”
This season, Alonso took Vettel’s place at Aston Martin, and ironically, the car’s performance improved immediately after the German left. Aston Martin is now a leading team, and it will be interesting to see how they develop after Vettel’s departure.