McLaren driver Norris might claim unwanted F1 record from Hulkenberg

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Lando Norris could soon become the Formula One driver to score the most points without winning a race. The McLaren driver’s seventh-place finish in Monza last week took him onto 394 career world championship points. 

In reaching the figure, the 22-year-old has now surpassed Romain Grosjean and has just Nico Hulkenberg in his way as he tries to avoid achieving a record that no driver wants. However, Norris still has some way to go before he surpasses Hulkenberg as the driver with the most points but without a win.

Former Renault driver Hulkenberg has scored 521 points during his F1 career, meaning Norris still has 127 points to score without winning a race to catch the 35-year-old. Hulkenberg can still score points, too, given that he is the reserve driver for Aston Martin. 

Norris will hope to win a race soon having come close on a couple of occasions. He has scored six podium-finishes, the most recent of which was at April’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. 

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The Bristol-born driver is seventh in the world championship leaderboard having scored 88 points in 2022. He has massively outperformed McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who is 14th on 19 points. 

Ricciardo will leave McLaren at the end of the season, with the Australian having struggled in the car. He will be replaced by countryman Oscar Piastri. 

Despite appearing to share a positive relationship with Ricciardo, Norris says he has no sympathy for his team-mate. Asked in August if he harboured any sympathetic feelings for his colleague, Norris surprisingly said: “I would hate to say it, but I would say no. People will probably hate me for saying it. 

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“It’s difficult because I never know if I might encounter that in the future with this car or with a different team or whatever. So I never want to contradict myself going into the future, but I’ve just got to focus on my driving and it’s not my job to focus on someone else. 

“I’m not a driver coach, I’m not here to help and do those kinds of things. I’m here to perform at my absolute best and that’s about it.

“It’s difficult though when people start to have an expectation [that] it’s my job to also just start doing these other things and helping and describing this and doing that, when that’s not really the case.

“And it’s also the case that if I don’t perform well for a few years, it can also be the end of my career and the end of me driving and Formula 1, so I’ve got to focus on myself for the majority of it.”

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