Lando Norris has been exposed after it was revealed he has been testing cars in a completely different series while fighting for his first F1 championship.
Norris got off to a perfect start to the 2025 F1 season in Australia, battling Max Verstappen in tricky conditions to take victory.
While the McLaren star still leads the championship, the three races since then have been far from perfect: his teammate Oscar Piastri won twice and Verstappen was the first to take the checkered flag in Japan.
Piastri dominated in Bahrain as Norris battled to overtake Charles Leclerc and take a podium finish after a disappointing qualifying for the Briton.
After his sixth-place finish on Saturday, Norris said he felt like he’d “never driven an F1 car before” and that there could be a very good reason for that.
According to former Williams team principal Peter Windsor, Norris has been testing rally cars in “extreme secrecy” outside of his McLaren duties.
This comes after it was confirmed last summer that an anonymous active driver was testing WRC cars, with many initially suspecting Verstappen or Valtteri Bottas.
Unsurprisingly, given his F1 credentials, Windsor said Norris’s performances in WRC events have been very impressive.
Speaking on Cameron Cc’s YouTube channel, Windsor revealed that Norris was the mystery driver.
“I know Lando is a big WRC fan,” he began.
“And I hope I’m not giving away too many secrets when I say that I know he’s been in WRC cars and is incredibly good.”
It shouldn’t be a huge surprise to hear that Norris has been behind the wheel, as he has previously admitted that the WRC scene is something that interests him greatly.
Speaking to Quadrant, while reacting to videos of the 2022 rally, Norris said: “It’s the coolest thing in the world.”
“I’d like to try one. I also feel like I’d die in one,” he joked.
