Magazine: Lando Norris' F1 form in 2021

Thanks to his Mercedes links and headline-grabbing drive in last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix, George Russell is probably the first name that comes to mind when considering who will follow Lewis Hamilton as Britain’s next F1 world champion. But it would be wrong to overlook Norris in the debate.

Both Russell and Norris scored a lot of success on their way up the single-seater ladder, both won what was then the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, and both have been part of the recovery of one of F1’s greatest teams.

McLaren is further along that road than Williams and, as Grand Prix Editor Alex Kalinauckas shows in our cover article, the Woking squad’s increasing competitiveness has allowed Norris to show what he can do against some of F1’s established frontrunners.

New team-mate Daniel Ricciardo will surely improve as he gets used to the McLaren but, if Norris can continue to match or beat the race-winning Australian, the 21-year-old’s stock will rise further.

Last weekend was a dramatic one in the motorsport world. We report on one of the World Rally Championship’s closest finishes on its first visit to Croatia, while events in Valencia were even more controversial as Formula E produced a chaotic finish. Our correspondent Matt Kew gives his verdict.

The World Endurance Championship kicks off at Spa this weekend and Gary Watkins explains why it should mark the start of a new golden era for sportscar racing in our preview. He also picks out things to watch during the 2021 WEC campaign, including the arrival of one of the best GT3 teams in LMP2.

It was a bumper weekend for UK motorsport too, so we pick out the highlights from events at Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Lydden Hill, Donington Park, Snetterton and Prescott. There’s also all the usual news from the club-racing world, as well as coverage of the Monaco Historique.

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