Although they weren't saying anything firm at Daytona, it was clear from remarks by Fernando Alonso and Zak Brown that come June McLaren's team leader would be on the grid at Le Mans. What I hadn't anticipated, though, was that he would drive a Toyota in all non-clashing World Endurance Championship races: at Fuji - a circuit owned by Toyota - they're seeking a date change, for the United States Grand Prix is scheduled the same weekend.
In the manner of Pedro Rodriguez half a century ago, for Alonso a weekend without a race is a weekend lost. "I think," said Brown, "Fernando would live in a race car if he could."
If sundry problems ruled the United Autosports Ligier out of contention at Daytona, both men were high in their praise of Lando Norris. "For people who don't know Lando," said Alonso, "maybe it was a surprise. In the night we ran wet tyres for one stint, and we were fifth, a minute behind the leader. Then we went back to slicks, in damp conditions: in something like 20 laps Lando recovered 33 seconds - and he's 18 years old."
So he is, and personable with it. "The Ligier," he told me before the race, "is fun to drive, but we're down on top speed, and there's no consistency in the car. I think it's mainly tyres - here we have to use Continentals, but in the Paul Ricard test we were on Dunlops, and it was completely different."
Norris and Alonso get along well. "Fernando's a very nice guy, and I think he's the best driver: I've learned a lot from him already that I can add on to how I drive, how I approach a race weekend. I watch how he goes about things - he's amazingly proactive, constantly thinking about what could be made better. You might think you give good feedback yourself, but he comes at it from a different angle, making suggestions you wouldn't normally think of."
I've known drivers in Alonso's position, I said, who've been very circumspect about giving advice to a young driver: Ayrton Senna with Mika Hakkinen comes immediately to mind.
"I've never thought in terms of replacing anyone - it's probably going to be more a matter of Fernando deciding to stop F1, and I've no idea when that will be"Lando Norris on his F1 graduation
Norris laughed. "Well, if I were Fernando's team-mate in Formula 1, it might be different, but here we're sharing a car! I must say, though, I've been in debriefs with him and Stoffel [Vandoorne] at grands prix, and from what I've seen he tries as much as he can to help everyone."
It was at the Hungaroring test last year that Norris first sampled a current F1 car, and dazzled everyone at McLaren by setting second fastest time. Had it been everything - even with the Honda engine - he had expected?
"Oh, it was more than I expected! Quite quickly you adapt, but - coming from F3 - the first time you go out of the pits, and accelerate, you think, 'Mmm, this is quite impressive!'"
Invariably, I said, when a rookie is asked which aspect of an F1 car makes the biggest impression, he says it's the brakes.
"Yeah, I'd agree with that - even more than the grip. When it's new to you, you think, 'OK, I need to brake now' because it feels like the corner is right there - but other guys are braking there! Everything happens so quickly, but you adapt, and it starts to slow down. The acceleration takes a bit of getting used to because it doesn't plateau, it just keeps going.
"I didn't find it easy to drive - it was way faster than anything I'd been in before, and the g-forces were much higher, so physically it was tougher. And mentally, too, there was a lot more going on, with all the buttons and switches you need to be keeping up with, and changing.
"I'd had experience in the simulator, but I'm not at the point where I can easily do this, this and this while still looking ahead. I'd say I was 60% of the way there, but you've got to get to a point where the engineer says, 'Do this', and you just do it naturally."
When Kevin Magnussen was at McLaren, he told me in 2015 of his difficulty in getting away from the feeling of being the third driver, waiting in the wings.
"I tend not to think about it too much," said Norris. "Although I want to drive as soon as possible, I respect that someone like Stoffel has worked hard to get where he is, and you kind of want to let him drive it for a bit - maybe I'm too nice sometimes!
"I've never thought in terms of replacing anyone - it's probably going to be more a matter of Fernando deciding to stop F1, and I've no idea when that will be. At the moment he seems to live for racing as much as he ever has."
This season Norris will drive for Trevor Carlin in Formula 2, and he looks forward not least to the quality of the racing, which he acknowledges is way better than in F1. "At the moment I watch a grand prix up to about lap five, and then... it gets a bit boring! I can't wait to get into F1, but I really hope something is done to improve the racing."
Alonso and Toyota apart, the big news story of the week seemed to be Liberty Media's expected announcement of its ban on grid girls. First a new 'F1' logo, now this: Lordy, whatever next? I've got more sense than to get involved in the debate - in today's world, after all, to venture any opinion on such a matter is to invite vitriolic opprobrium, and I long ago tired of that.
I did, though, rather care for the words of one mercifully light-hearted blogger, who'd anticipated more grid girls in 2018, to take viewers' minds off the halo...
Although they weren't saying anything firm at Daytona, it was clear from remarks by Fernando Alonso and Zak Brown that come June McLaren's team leader would be on the grid at Le Mans. What I hadn't anticipated, though, was that he would drive a Toyota in all non-clashing World Endurance Championship races: at Fuji - a circuit owned by Toyota - they're seeking a date change, for the United States Grand Prix is scheduled the same weekend.
In the manner of Pedro Rodriguez half a century ago, for Alonso a weekend without a race is a weekend lost. "I think," said Brown, "Fernando would live in a race car if he could."
If sundry problems ruled the United Autosports Ligier out of contention at Daytona, both men were high in their praise of Lando Norris. "For people who don't know Lando," said Alonso, "maybe it was a surprise. In the night we ran wet tyres for one stint, and we were fifth, a minute behind the leader. Then we went back to slicks, in damp conditions: in something like 20 laps Lando recovered 33 seconds - and he's 18 years old."
So he is, and personable with it. "The Ligier," he told me before the race, "is fun to drive, but we're down on top speed, and there's no consistency in the car. I think it's mainly tyres - here we have to use Continentals, but in the Paul Ricard test we were on Dunlops, and it was completely different."
Norris and Alonso get along well. "Fernando's a very nice guy, and I think he's the best driver: I've learned a lot from him already that I can add on to how I drive, how I approach a race weekend. I watch how he goes about things - he's amazingly proactive, constantly thinking about what could be made better. You might think you give good feedback yourself, but he comes at it from a different angle, making suggestions you wouldn't normally think of."
I've known drivers in Alonso's position, I said, who've been very circumspect about giving advice to a young driver: Ayrton Senna with Mika Hakkinen comes immediately to mind.
"I've never thought in terms of replacing anyone - it's probably going to be more a matter of Fernando deciding to stop F1, and I've no idea when that will be"Lando Norris on his F1 graduation
Norris laughed. "Well, if I were Fernando's team-mate in Formula 1, it might be different, but here we're sharing a car! I must say, though, I've been in debriefs with him and Stoffel [Vandoorne] at grands prix, and from what I've seen he tries as much as he can to help everyone."
It was at the Hungaroring test last year that Norris first sampled a current F1 car, and dazzled everyone at McLaren by setting second fastest time. Had it been everything - even with the Honda engine - he had expected?
"Oh, it was more than I expected! Quite quickly you adapt, but - coming from F3 - the first time you go out of the pits, and accelerate, you think, 'Mmm, this is quite impressive!'"
Invariably, I said, when a rookie is asked which aspect of an F1 car makes the biggest impression, he says it's the brakes.
"Yeah, I'd agree with that - even more than the grip. When it's new to you, you think, 'OK, I need to brake now' because it feels like the corner is right there - but other guys are braking there! Everything happens so quickly, but you adapt, and it starts to slow down. The acceleration takes a bit of getting used to because it doesn't plateau, it just keeps going.
"I didn't find it easy to drive - it was way faster than anything I'd been in before, and the g-forces were much higher, so physically it was tougher. And mentally, too, there was a lot more going on, with all the buttons and switches you need to be keeping up with, and changing.
"I'd had experience in the simulator, but I'm not at the point where I can easily do this, this and this while still looking ahead. I'd say I was 60% of the way there, but you've got to get to a point where the engineer says, 'Do this', and you just do it naturally."
When Kevin Magnussen was at McLaren, he told me in 2015 of his difficulty in getting away from the feeling of being the third driver, waiting in the wings.
"I tend not to think about it too much," said Norris. "Although I want to drive as soon as possible, I respect that someone like Stoffel has worked hard to get where he is, and you kind of want to let him drive it for a bit - maybe I'm too nice sometimes!
"I've never thought in terms of replacing anyone - it's probably going to be more a matter of Fernando deciding to stop F1, and I've no idea when that will be. At the moment he seems to live for racing as much as he ever has."
This season Norris will drive for Trevor Carlin in Formula 2, and he looks forward not least to the quality of the racing, which he acknowledges is way better than in F1. "At the moment I watch a grand prix up to about lap five, and then... it gets a bit boring! I can't wait to get into F1, but I really hope something is done to improve the racing."
Alonso and Toyota apart, the big news story of the week seemed to be Liberty Media's expected announcement of its ban on grid girls. First a new 'F1' logo, now this: Lordy, whatever next? I've got more sense than to get involved in the debate - in today's world, after all, to venture any opinion on such a matter is to invite vitriolic opprobrium, and I long ago tired of that.
I did, though, rather care for the words of one mercifully light-hearted blogger, who'd anticipated more grid girls in 2018, to take viewers' minds off the halo...
