Race to the Top

Lando Norris is a young driver lapping people on the grid and in business. 

At just 24 years old, he has built an incredible foundation for himself and is just getting started growing his personal brand. 

This is how the rising superstar is balancing the busy Formula One circuit with a rapidly scaling portfolio.

Who is Lando Norris?

Lando Norris is a British-Belgian Formula One driver for the McLaren Racing team.

Born in Bristol, England, in 1999, Norris was raised alongside his two younger sisters by his British father and Belgian mother.

As a child, Norris experimented with various forms of racing, including horse racing, quad biking, and motorcycle riding. 

But his passion for driving ignited at the age of seven when his father took him to watch the 2007 National British Karting Championship. That same year, he began his karting career, even securing pole position in his first national event.

Lando was on a clear path to becoming a professional driver from a young age. His family relocated from Bristol to Glastonbury to support his accelerating career.

His karting career culminated in a Karting World Championship victory in 2014.

At this point, Norris decided to focus entirely on his racing career, leaving school without taking his GCSEs (equivalent to a high school diploma in the United States).

In 2015, Norris transitioned to the Formula 4 circuit, where cars reach speeds of 140-150 mph (225-241 km/h), a significant jump from the 60-80 mph (97-129 km/h) typical in karting. 

He excelled, winning the MSA Formula Championship (now called the F4 British Championship).

In 2016, Norris continued his winning streak, claiming victories in the Toyota Racing Series, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. 

His impressive performance earned him the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, recognizing promising young British drivers.

In 2017, Norris joined the McLaren Young Driver Programme and moved up to the Formula 3 level, where cars reach speeds of 160-170 mph (257-274 km/h). 

He won the FIA Formula 3 Championship that year.

In 2018, Norris advanced to Formula 2, finishing the year as a runner-up to George Russell, who now competes on the Formula One circuit for Mercedes. 

That same year, Lando was announced as a McLaren driver alongside Carlos Sainz Jr. and made his Formula One debut in 2019.

Norris qualified eighth and finished twelfth in his first Formula One race, the Australian Grand Prix, scoring his first Formula One points the following race with a sixth-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. 

Over the past five years, Norris has established himself as one of the most consistent and talented drivers on the grid.

His first victory came in his 110th race, where he beat Max Verstappen of Red Bull by nearly 8 seconds at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, an event Verstappen had yet to lose.

Though still early in his career, Norris is undoubtedly one of the top talents to watch in Formula One.

What is Lando Norris’ Net Worth?

There is no sport as tightly tied to its budget as Formula One. Breaking into this elite racing world is notoriously challenging, with only 20 drivers competing across 10 teams. 

Young talents usually start with karting, an expensive and risky endeavor.

Lando Norris is currently worth around $30 million.

While this isn't on par with the top drivers, it's wildly impressive for a 24-year-old. 

His entry into karting was facilitated by his father, Adam Norris, a retired pensions manager with a net worth of $230 million, ranking him among Britain's wealthiest individuals.

Despite his family's wealth, Norris's talent has secured him a lucrative career. Norris extended his contract with McLaren through 2027, earning an annual salary of $25 million, ranking him fourth among current drivers, with Max Verstappen leading at $55 million per year. 

Lando started his career living near McLaren's headquarters in Woking but moved to Monaco in 2022, likely for tax benefits (a common practice among Formula One drivers).

In addition to his salary, Norris benefits from several sponsorships. 

McLaren is his most prominent sponsor, gifting him a McLaren 720S and contributing an estimated $4 million annually. 

He also earns around $4 million each year from Bell Helmets, a leading racing helmet manufacturer. 

Other brand deals with ADD Management, PAP, Wearegrip, TUMI, and Pure Electric bring his total endorsement earnings to approximately $10 million annually.

The young driver also boasts an impressive car collection, including a Rolls Royce Wraith ($450,000), Lamborghini Aventador ($550,000), Ferrari F8 ($490,000), McLaren 720S ($310,000), Jaguar F-Type ($115,000), Land Rover Defender ($110,000), and an Audi Q8 ($80,000).

Beyond racing, Norris is expanding his financial portfolio through various business ventures and investments, showcasing his ambition and foresight for life beyond the track.

Lando Norris’ Business Ventures

Lando was a hustler from a very young age before his racing career took off. He says he used to make good money selling visor stickers to drivers at karting tournaments. 

Although small, this venture helped him learn the basics of business, undoubtedly giving him a foundation for what was to come.

Quadrant

Lando started Quadrant in 2020 as a brand to represent who he is as a person and embody his passions off the grid.

He’s very adamant that he’s been a gamer his entire life and has always wanted to launch his own eSports team, but his career as a driver was becoming increasingly more serious.

During COVID-19, Jamie MacLaurin, the Chief Gaming Officer of Veloce, an F1 eSports entity, reached out to Lando about launching an eSports team after hearing him talk about it. 

They both agreed that the COVID-19 era was the prime opportunity to launch the brand since everyone became focused on digital content while the world was stalled.

After launching the company in November 2020 with Veloce as a partner, Quadrant became the first European team to place in the top three of the Halo Championship Series. Quadrant also has teams participating in Call of Duty and Rocket League.

The boom of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” had a direct impact on Quadrant’s growth because it solved Formula One’s struggle to tell the story of the sport, now allowing people to get to know the drivers inside the cars. 

Lando also engaged with his community by streaming, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to get to know him on an even more personal level while he played video games.

Evolution

Over the years, the company has begun to evolve into more than just a gaming business to encompass a lifestyle brand. 

The brand focuses on embodying Lando’s personality and going where his interests lie.

For example, he loves fashion, and his apparel department has evidently been busy with developing more clothing drops, fusing streetwear and athletic wear, which we can see Lando wearing from time to time.

As of August 2024, Quadrant’s YouTube is approaching 1 million subscribers and 165 million views. 

Norris began to bring in YouTube ambassadors for the brand to participate in the videos since he doesn’t have as much time to partake in videos due to the Formula One schedule becoming increasingly busy (but he still does from time to time). 

Some of the creators he’s signed are Max Fewtrell, Gia Bish, Super GT, AArava, and FNG. He has also brought on Willne as a co-owner, one of the UK’s most viewed YouTubers.

With this pivot, we see the brand starting to shift slightly away from just having Lando as the frontman, with the next step becoming a full brand that also encompasses Lando. 

As such, they have a new project taking inspiration from “Drive to Survive” but with a focus on online content. 

Quadrant has signed young athletes and has merged them with content creation, similar to what Red Bull does with their athletes. Currently, the list of athletes includes Oliver Solberg (Skoda WRC2 Driver), Keegan Palmer (Olympic Gold Medalist Skateboarder), Lotte Van Drunen (Motocross Rider), and Ivan Ortola (Moto3 Rider).

The Quadrant site is also a blog to deliver stories on Lando, the athletes, the creators, and the brand.

As of August 2023, the brand, valued on YouTube projections alone, would be worth about $250,000. But this is certainly conservative since the brand encompasses apparel, eSports, and partnerships with SCUF Gaming, JBL, and Elgato. 

With this in mind, Quadrant is currently worth closer to $1 million with an estimated annual YouTube revenue of around $200,000.

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LN Kart Racing

Lando founded a karting company in 2021 to provide young drivers with a platform to develop their skills. 

He partnered with OTK Kart Group, an Italian company and leader in the karting world. Together, they create premium karts for purchase, utilizing OTK’s in-house production chain near Brescia, Italy.

This venture is a way for Lando to give back to the sport and remember his roots.

Revenue and valuation figures for LN Kart Racing are currently unknown, but the partnership with OTK Kart Group ensures high-quality production and a strong presence in the karting community.

Angel Investor

With his high annual income and family background in economics, it’s no surprise that Lando is actively investing around him.

In September 2023, Lando joined teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. and Valtteri Bottas in an investment fund from Apex Capital. 

The Portuguese investment firm is managing the $53 million fund, focusing on sports, media, and entertainment, particularly athlete performance, nutrition, and fan engagement. Other athletes, such as Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen and Raphael Varane, as well as Anderlecht defender Jan Vertonghen, have also joined the fund.

Apex Capital’s first investment was in ScorePlay, a digital asset manager software with a focus on sports. Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures also participated in the pre-seed round alongside them. 

The next investment was in PlaySight, an AI sports software aimed at empowering athletes and coaches by recording and live streaming practices and games with built-in AI analysis.

In the Ecosystem

In 2023, it was announced that Lando was a key investor in F1 Arcade. 

He participated in the $37 million Series A round along with his McLaren boss, Zak Brown, in the company looking to fuse hospitality with racing. 

The first site opened in London in November 2022, allowing people to play a modified Formula One game on high-quality simulators. The second location opened in Boston in spring 2024, with plans for expansion in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. F1 Arcade aims to open 30 locations globally by 2027.

Lando also expanded his reach in sports by becoming an investor in TMWR Sports, Tiger Woods’ and Rory McIlroy’s new indoor golfing league, scheduled to begin in 2025.

The Success Strategies of Lando Norris

1. Build Around Your Interests: Like most people, Norris has interests outside of his career and has built a brand around these passions, creating a diverse portfolio that reflects who he is beyond the racetrack.

2. Personal Branding is Key: Norris understands that people are drawn to personalities rather than just brands. By sharing his life and interests through social media and streaming, he’s able to relate with his audience.

3. Follow the Blueprint: Lando doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel; instead, he refines it to fit his goals.

4. Invest in Your Ecosystem: Norris strategically invests in companies that align with his career, business ventures, and personal passions to not only diversify his portfolio but also strengthens the industries he is involved in.

The Bottom Line

Lando Norris is young, but his achievements suggest otherwise. 

He has built a growing brand around himself and mastered the art of delegation, allowing his ventures to thrive independently. 

With sound business and investment advice early in his career, Norris is poised for success both on and off the track. 

He is undoubtedly an athlete to watch in the coming years.