LANDO
your first race is always , I think , quite emotional . And , yeah , it brings you back to all the days that you worked towards Formula 1 , and then you dream of being on the podium , but then being on the top step . You can appreciate and respect what Lando has done today , and I ’ m very happy for him .’
Lando himself says there is one thing he always tries to maintain . ‘ Sometimes I think everyone maybe doesn ’ t talk the best of other people , because of certain situations . You ’ re under pressure . You ’ re racing people . People crash into you . You get frustrated . And of course , you ’ re going to say things that people don ’ t like . One thing I will always have is respect for the people I race against , as much as sometimes things make you not want to have it ! So , as much as when you put the helmet on , you hate them , and you want to beat them , and you don ’ t care who ’ s who , I ’ ve always had respect for these people . So when anyone comes up like that , especially people who have achieved a lot , it always means a little bit more . Then when Lewis , Fernando , Max , Charles , Carlos , whenever they come up to you , or people have good words for you , I appreciate those things a lot . Because from these people , it means a lot . These are the ones who know what it takes to achieve these things , the work , the time , the effort that goes into doing something like this .’
Part of his popularity , perhaps , is that he doesn ’ t stress about criticism , or those nasty memes .
‘ Anyone can say what they want . I ’ m always for that . People don ’ t need to like or support me . But when people doubt you in certain situations , you want to prove them wrong . They think they know what they ’ re talking about and when you prove that they don ’ t , then that ’ s a nice thing to do . It ’ s just nice to show people what I ’ m capable of .’
Lando has always been sociable and polite . He still is . When he first joined McLaren , he made tea and swept
“ I wasn ’ t worried . I knew my time was coming ” floors , and worked his way up . Now he ’ s their race winner . It ’ s not fanciful to suggest he could be their next champion .
While saying a lot for his character , that also speaks volumes for the way his parents Adam and Cisca have raised him and his siblings , older brother Oliver and younger sisters Flo ( a show jumping star ) and Cisca . There ’ s nothing of the spoiled brat about Lando .
A few weeks before that Miami victory I ’ d been talking to Mark Berryman – he and business partner Fraser Sheader , a fellow former karter , form Add Management and look after Lando ’ s career – and we had discussed Lando ’ s glasshalf-full character penchant for putting himself down . How maybe it was time he was persuaded to give that a rest , because people tend to take you at your own value .
But like so many things , Lando addressed all that in that conference , and this was him being his own man , doing things his own way , after finally delivering just what he ’ d always believed he could deliver .
↑ Lando on his way to his debut victory in Grands Prix™ in Miami , an event which was suitably well celebrated soon afterwards ... ↓
62