Lando Norris might not have caught Max Verstappen on the F1 track, but he’s played a huge role in shaping another racing champion’s career.
Just ask Ferdinand Habsburg, who says he owes his entire racing success to being Norris’ teammate.
The two shared a garage at Carlin during their Formula 3 days and battled it out in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series. For Habsburg, those experiences were game-changing.
“You need the toughest competition in the world to become even remotely good,” Habsburg explained on the Tomorrow’s Motorsport podcast. “I needed Lando Norris as a teammate for two years to become a real driver.”
It wasn’t always pretty. In fact, it was often brutal.
“Without Lando, I don’t think I would be a Le Mans winner or WEC champion. I wouldn’t be a professional driver,” said Habsburg, who went on to win the prestigious Le Mans race in 2021 in the LMP2 category.
The current Alpine WEC driver remembers the tough days vividly. “I needed Lando to destroy me, to make me question my own physical abilities and really dig deep and go testing,” he admitted.
Some days were particularly rough. “Getting out of the car, scratching my head because I got beaten by two seconds in the wet. And you’re like, this is just painful. It was painful and I needed it.”
It’s a reminder that sometimes the toughest competitors can be our best teachers – even if they’re leaving us in their dust.
