McLaren's new star can be Hamilton's successor

People are always looking for the next Formula 1 star. Followers of junior racing take pride in spotting talent before anyone else, Red Bull has reaped the benefits of its rigorous driver programme, and national interest in motorsport increases when there is a homegrown hero to cheer for.

Britain has a good record when it comes to drivers, but there is always the concern about where the next potential world champion is going to come from. That's particularly true for Silverstone owner, the British Racing Drivers' Club, which knows that having a frontrunning local hero can make a big difference to the number of fans who come through the gates for the British Grand Prix.

Since 1989 the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award has been a part of that search to find and help British talents. One of the prizes is an F1 test, which usually takes place at Silverstone at the end of the following year, and recently has been conducted in 1998 Award victor and 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button's '11 Canadian GP-winning MP4-26.

But this year things have been rather different. Lando Norris took three titles in 2016 - the Toyota Racing Series, Formula Renault Eurocup and FR NEC - and then won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in arguably the most impressive style since Button 18 years earlier.

By the end of June this year, McLaren had given Norris a run in the MP4-26 at the Algarve circuit in Portugal and decided to extend his prize drive to an official F1 test in a current car at the Hungaroring. On August 2, the 17-year-old did 91 laps in the McLaren-Honda MCL32 - and he was stunning.

Norris spent the first half of the day on set-up and development work, before McLaren let him have a crack at some qualifying runs and, in his own words, "have some fun".

Using the ultra-soft Pirelli, Norris lapped in 1m17.385s, almost half a second faster than McLaren regular Stoffel Vandoorne had done in similar conditions the day before. It also put him second overall in the test, behind only Ferrari's Hungarian GP winner Sebastian Vettel, who went slower than he had done during qualifying.

Perhaps even more impressively, Norris's time was quicker than the 1m17.549s lap double world champion Fernando Alonso managed in qualifying for the previous weekend's GP in the same equipment. Even factoring in the advantage of the ultra-soft tyre over the super-soft rubber that Alonso used - reckoned to be around half a second - that puts Norris within about three tenths of a driver regarded by many as the best in the world, on his first run in a contemporary F1 car.

"It was a very good day," says Norris, who nevertheless tries to play down the times. "I felt comfortable pretty quickly and I got the chance to do some qualifying-style runs, but you can't just look at the times.

"There was some time left in me - not loads, but there were a few tenths. It was slightly better than I expected it would go."

"When we saw Lando in the MABA tests we all saw something very special" Derek Warwick

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier describes Norris as a "potential star of the future" and points to more than the Brit's pace: "Lando showed positive progress throughout the day and impressed us with his maturity, professionalism and speed. He was able to adjust his driving style as we moved through our run plan, adapting his input and technique to the requirements we needed for our evaluation programme. That proved very useful and he's certainly an asset to our test-driver line-up.

"He's at the beginning of a steep learning curve, but he's definitely shown that he deserves to be on this path."

None of this has been a surprise to BRDC president and chairman of the Award judges Derek Warwick, who has helped a number of rising British aces in recent years. "When we saw him in the tests we all saw something very special," says the ex-F1 racer. "He considers things before he answers questions and has a natural gift for driving a racing car.

"I've never met a more unassuming yet confident guy - he is so understated. In F3 he made a mistake at Pau and admitted to it, and said it would never happen again. With him you believe it.

"The most impressive thing for me was Spa [in European Formula 3]. He'd just had his McLaren test in Portimao and found out he was going to drive at the Hungaroring, and he took three poles and two wins. To deliver under that sort of pressure at that age is very unusual."

The impressive Hungary test was a continuation of exceeding expectations that Norris has managed in 2017. As well as his stellar European F3 campaign, he has also become part of McLaren's simulator team. That was one of the new Award prizes introduced last year, but Norris has made more of it than anyone could have hoped.

After passing McLaren's tests, he is now part of its race support team, trying changes in the simulator during a GP weekend based on feedback from Alonso, Vandoorne and the rest of the race operation.

"It involves trying things the team at the track wants to try, which is pretty cool," says Norris, before explaining the details of the assessment he had to do first.

"They didn't tell me what they were doing to the car and I had to say how it had been affected. That gave them an idea of what my feedback was like. They have to trust me, otherwise it's not worth me doing any more tests. I did reasonably well fairly quickly and they were giving me things to test and develop."

"Not everyone gets to drive for McLaren. Hopefully it leads to more chances" Lando Norris

The result was that, about a month after starting, Norris began helping with the race effort back at the Woking base. He regularly visits McLaren's factory, even if it is just to do some fitness training and "see everyone". Despite his youth, Norris's perspective on the wider requirements needed to be successful is often apparent.

"I've done a fair bit of sim work - it's not easy because I've been busy with F3," he adds. "It's been mainly working on the car and it's definitely helped me improve and get ready for the test. If I hadn't done the sim I would have done a lot worse in Hungary.

"Sometimes you have late nights doing the race support if the time zones are different to the races, but I enjoy it."

So does he think the simulator work was why he got the chance to drive the real MCL32 in Hungary? "It's not just that - it's a lot of things," replies Norris after his characteristic thoughtful pause. "It's the sim work, the results I've had in my career so far, how I've been doing in my rookie F3 year, and the effort I put in."

At each step of the way Norris has performed to such a high level that McLaren has been compelled to raise the stakes. "You can't risk everything in one go," he says with trademark maturity. "The MP4-26 run was useful because until then the fastest car I'd driven was the [Williams-built JPH1B] F2 at the Award tests. It gave me experience of the downforce, braking performance and things like all the buttons and adjustments - knowing what the car does."

One of the big challenges of jumping into an F1 machine for the first time is the strength and fitness required. That's particularly true for the new generation of high-downforce cars. Norris is not the largest driver in the world and he admits his physical attributes were a concern before he climbed aboard on a blisteringly hot day in Hungary.

"Going into it I was a bit nervous as to whether I'd be able to do 100 laps or what the other guys were doing, but it actually went really well," he says. "By the end of the day I was tired, but in terms of neck strength it went very well. Though I can see why they'd complain after a couple of race runs!

"I want to say thanks to McLaren - they've given me a big opportunity. Not everyone gets to drive for McLaren. Hopefully it'll lead on to more things."

That seems certain. Norris's pace was never really in question, but he still managed to surprise in Hungary. Throw in his work ethic, abilities on the simulator, impressive feedback, fitness and desire to improve, and it's hard to see a chink in the armour. He also has a strong support network and clearly has more than just a foot in the door at McLaren.

A Max Verstappen-style graduation from F3 to F1 is probably not going to happen next year; McLaren isn't currently struggling in the driver-talent department and empty seats are few and far between. But a season in Formula 2 or Super Formula in Japan, along with some more sim work, could be a great final stepping stone to the sport's pinnacle.

"McLaren is nurturing him and making sure he's not rushed," adds Warwick. "I think he is ready for F1, but if I was his management team I would put him at Prema in F2 for 2018 because another year of top-line racing would do no harm, and there are no gaps in the market.

"There were questions asked in the F1 paddock about whether he was doing too much and not being allowed to develop as a young man, but he loves it. If he could do, he'd go karting between all the racing!

"It's nice Britain has got someone who is going to be a real character, is super-quick and intelligent, and can carry on that wave after Lewis Hamilton."

For now, the search for a star is over.