Cut the jokes - Lando Norris must step up as McLaren F1's team leader in 2023

Lando Norris is one of the hottest properties in Formula 1 today. The British driver is highly rated, and every team on the F1 grid has him in their sights. It's almost easy to forget that he is yet to win a race!

Since he joined the McLaren F1 team at the start of 2019, partnering now-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, he has been in impressive form. And being just 19-years-old at the time, he has shown immense maturity and an ability to race beyond what said car could theoretically do.

These are all traits of a good racing driver, which is why Norris is on every team's hitlist as a future signee.

Turning 24 later this year, Norris will have a new challenge awaiting him at the start of the 2023 F1 season: he must step up as team leader and lead McLaren's new driver line-up.

Jokes aside

While Norris is talented, his personality is such that a gag is never far behind. Be it a meme or joke, Norris is always ready to deliver, which is why so many fans of the sport, especially the younger generation, have found a liking to him.

But 2023 will be slightly different. Having come from the tutelage of Sainz (2019 - 2020) and Daniel Ricciardo (2021 - 2022), Norris will now take up the mantle of team leader as McLaren welcomes Oscar Piastri into the fold.

The 2021 Formula 2 champion was confirmed as a McLaren driver after a brief court battle against Alpine, ultimately getting the nod ahead of fellow-Australian Ricciardo to don the papaya orange racing suit.

And having missed out on a year's racing in 2022, Norris will be tasked with bleeding Piastri into the team and helping him understand the team's 2023 car, the MCL37.

McLaren ended the 2022 season in fifth place, losing out to Alpine in the Constructors' race. This year, the team hopes to