Lando Norris Triumphs Over McLaren Chief in Surprising Kart Race

Over 30 years of being a Formula 1 fan, I’ve observed the transformation of the world’s most advanced race cars and the fiery personalities who drive them. In my youth, I saw muscular, middle-aged men command race cars with fierce determination and unmatched courage. Now, as an adult, I watch seemingly frail youths flirt with danger every weekend as they buckle into carbon fiber machines in pursuit of approval, global recognition, and six-figure winnings. Yet, I had never witnessed an F1 title contender jump into a go-kart and drive it so flawlessly that it made me wonder if anyone—myself included—truly appreciated just how exceptional today’s F1 drivers are.

It’s clear that reaching F1 requires first mastering karts and all the preliminary series along the way. Thus, watching a current F1 star excel in a kart, regardless of the gap since their last race, isn’t surprising. However, despite having been a shifter kart racer myself and experiencing some incredible kart duels throughout my life—some against IndyCar and sports car drivers—I was unprepared for the raw talent on display when McLaren’s Lando Norris drove just inches from me. Even more astonishingly, his boss, Zak Brown, wasn’t too far off the mark.

The Woking team had a remarkable season in the F1 World Championship, though not as flawless as the prior years for Red Bull and Mercedes. Nevertheless, clinching the Constructors’ Championship with six races remaining is a remarkable achievement felt throughout the organization, from F1 to IndyCar.

McLaren’s immensely talented drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, have had their fair share of clashes this year. Despite some questionable team decisions and performances throughout the season, Norris was named F1 world champion. Meanwhile, Piastri finished third, and at times, they needed to unwind. One such instance was earlier this summer, right at the start of the obligatory F1 summer break, just days after their 1-2 finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Scene

I find myself on sacred ground, a location every car aficionado would instantly recognize. The brisk morning air, typical of the English countryside even in summer, is intensified as a large helicopter passes overhead, arriving from Woking. Inside are McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, driver championship hopeful Lando Norris, F1 commentator David Croft (more commonly known as “Crofty”), and a few colleagues.

The helicopter lands down the runway from where I stand—or should I say, down the back straight? If you haven’t caught on, I’m at Dunsfold Aerodrome, widely recognized as the Top Gear Test Track.

My presence here is for a challenge, one I initially dismissed as just another marketing gimmick when I was first invited. However, the more details I uncovered about the project, the more intrigued I became. McLaren Racing sponsor eBay had devised a unique challenge for the papaya duo. In collaboration with Dewalt, they orchestrated a karting competition resembling a made-for-Instagram promotional “activation.” You know, one of the countless public appearances F1 drivers make each racing season. Yet, as I was about to discover, this event was far from ordinary, as were the karts.

The Karts

Beside me were two fully custom-built karts. I’m not referring to your standard rides equipped with Harbor Freight motors, nor a battery-powered kart from Amazon. These were legitimate racing karts featuring Italian OTK chassis and CIK-FIA-approved bodywork, akin to those operated by tomorrow’s stars at Ocala in Florida or South Garda in Italy.

What stood out most was the custom development of these chassis and the tailored powertrain that propelled them. Instead of a fuel tank, a tool bag concealed some batteries and wiring. Rather than a race-fuel-consuming TaG engine revving to 16,000 rpm, there were two 54V Dewalt chainsaws powering the rear axle (sans the saws, of course) attached to a customized frame disguised as a rear wing. A 40-kW e-bike motor energized this eccentric creation, which, due to the engineering mastery of Hazell Nutz—known for several high-profile builds, including the latest Batmobile—could push those karts to over 110 mph.

Every component of the karts was procured through eBay because, as Brown stated in front of the cameras, “You can buy anything on eBay; it’s like Christmas every day at my home.” However, he later confided to me, away from the microphones, that he even orders his deodorant on eBay. Regardless, from the LN-licensed chassis to the tires, every nut and bolt used in the build was acquired online via the auction giant, with Dewalt supplying the power components.

The Competition

The McLaren team was swiftly transferred from the helicopter to a small building that, despite having seen countless episodes of Top Gear, I never knew existed. Called the “McLaren Shed,” this worn-down structure south of Hammerhead corner looks mostly abandoned from the inside and outside, yet still displays an old McLaren sign on its exterior, along with broken vertical blinds visible through the main window. Inside, there are a few office chairs scattered, a kitchenette, a bathroom, and some… tires and miscellaneous items.

Eventually, Norris, his boss, his handler, and nearly a dozen others walked out of the shed towards me. Norris and Brown were outfitted in official Papaya Orange racing suits. Norris sported his signature highlighter-yellow-and-black racing helmet, while Brown donned a plain white one. Both seemed excited to see the karts—especially Norris—or at least that’s the impression I gathered from my distance.

After a brief introduction to their machines, my attention shifted to the event’s host, who was none other than Crofty. I must admit that the instant I heard his voice, I was completely entranced, though amidst several figures I usually only see on television, I couldn’t immediately discern who it belonged to.

“I swear that voice is incredibly familiar,” I told Anna, the person chiefly responsible for my presence as the sole media outlet in attendance. “It’s Crofty, from Sky Sports,” she informed me.

Wow, I felt foolish. But in my defense, I had never seen Crofty; I had only ever heard him.

The competition, as narrated by the F1 voice, was divided into three segments: a slalom, a pit stop, and a hot lap. A driver would jump into a kart, drive to the slalom start line, and wait for the flag to initiate the challenge. At that moment, the timer would start, and the driver would undertake a lap of the challenge before returning to the start area, where they must stop within the designated box. Once coming to a full stop, the driver would then head to the makeshift pit area, exit the kart, remove the spare kart’s tire with a Dewalt power tool, and continue to the final challenge: the hot lap. The driver would then hop back into the kart and launch full throttle for two laps around a shortened section of the Top Gear track. The one with the fastest time would emerge victorious.

Skill Sets for Success

Not a single person in the group of roughly 100 individuals who organized the event believed Norris would falter. After all, Brown is a serious racer and arguably possesses some of the best driving talent of any team executive in the F1 paddock, along with Mercedes’ Toto Wolff. Regardless, beating his own driver in a go-kart seemed ambitious, if not impossible.

Norris hopped into the kart and maneuvered into a comfortable seating position. Having taken the kart for a brief run already, he somewhat knew what to expect, though it’s important to note that just ten minutes prior, he had never even laid eyes on it, let alone understood its handling peculiarities. He crept to the starting line and awaited the flag.

The following three minutes showcased driving talent in a manner I had never witnessed before. I can only liken it to the first time I watched onboard footage of Ayrton Senna, thinking, “Wow, this is exceptional.” Similarly, watching Norris maneuver that kart through the slalom and rotate the rear as if the front tires were anchored to the ground left me in awe. And while I don’t need to exhibit my credentials as a professional passenger, I’ve been alongside unbelievably skilled drivers like Tom Kristensen, Max Verstappen, and, for the sake of staying within the Top Gear family, the longest-serving Stig, Ben Collins. I’m not easily impressed.

I’m not claiming Norris is Senna, nor is he more or less skilled than any of those other drivers, but in that custom kart, he clearly illustrated why he deserves to take the No. 1 from Max Verstappen. Whether he can snatch three more championships remains to be seen, but he is undeniably a master of his craft.

Following the autocross phase, Norris continued with the remainder of the challenge, launching down the short straight. He raced into the iconic Follow-Through (which always appeared spectacular on TV, by the way) and then made a right turn at Chicago to head back towards my location. It was in that section that the kart reached approximately 100 mph before a sharp braking maneuver into Hammerhead, a corner known for challenging both a car’s balance and a driver’s skill. Norris skillfully maintained both the front and rear of the kart under strenuous braking as if he’d completed a century of laps on it, navigating left and right for his second lap. Honestly, it was somewhat disconcerting watching a bright yellow kart hurtling towards me at such velocity, not seeing it slow down until mere feet before the corner. Perhaps it was because I understood the stakes for Norris if something were to malfunction at that exact moment, or maybe because I stood directly in harm’s way. Shrug.

As Norris’s run concluded, it was time for his boss to take his turn—but he wasn’t starting strong. Where Norris glided smoothly through the cones, making the kart elegantly weave, Brown appeared abrupt and stiff. He knocked over a few cones during his initial run, and when it became time to execute the 180-degree kart rotation, he struggled to angle the rear enough to clear the barrier. “So this is the distinction between a skilled driver and an F1 ace,” I mused.

Fortunately, Brown’s arduous autocross session came to an end, and he headed to the pit area for the required battery change. This wouldn’t be a friendly competition without some antics, so Norris had earlier ensured to make things a bit trickier for Brown by placing those Dewalt power tools just out of reach.

However, despite the minor hiccup, Brown sped off and tore down the course like a bat out of hell, and I’d wager he exhibited even more guts than Norris in the speedy turns. The self-made entrepreneur, motorsport enthusiast, car collector, and F1 executive surged into Hammerhead with such fervor that a collective gasp arose from all observers. He locked the tires, appearing briefly as though he might spin out, yet miraculously kept it stable and made the turn. He bolted into the distance and repeated the routine. Astonishingly, it seemed that Brown managed to compensate adequately by the end for his earlier missteps.

Back in the pits, Brown, Norris, and Crofty engaged in some light-hearted banter regarding the events that had just unfolded, though it mainly consisted of Norris playfully ribbing his boss about his weight and whether his ribs were sore. Brown claimed to be out of breath and quickly requested a time penalty for Lando to offset the weight difference. The adjudicator… err, Crofty… was having none of it.

And the Champion Is…

Zak Brown

• Challenge Time: 2:21 minutes
• Penalties: +15 sec (3 cone hits)
• Final Time: 2:36 minutes

Lando Norris

• Challenge Time: 2:26 minutes
• Penalties: +5 sec (overshoot stop)
• Final Time: 2:31 minutes

Naturally, it’s Lando—why would anyone think differently? However, the fact that Brown was only five seconds behind is genuinely impressive. In fact, without those penalties, he could have taken the win or been extremely close to it.

I fully recognize that my experience doesn’t reveal anything novel. A top-tier F1 driver can dominate a kart and outpace his boss. Whoop-de-doo. That’s not the crux of the matter; what’s vital is that racing enthusiasts frequently argue that today’s drivers aren’t as skilled as their predecessors solely because their vehicles are more sophisticated and equipped with technology that was unthinkable in the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s. Yet, what I witnessed affirmed my belief that if you provided Norris with Senna’s old McLaren and ample testing time, he could very well astonish us all.

Watch the full experience here!

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