McLaren F1 Team‘s Lando Norris has won a fan vote to decide 2019’s Rookie of the Year, winning by a big margin compared to his fellow debutant drivers, Williams Racing‘s George Russell and Red Bull Racing‘s Alex Albon.
The young Briton’s season has been a bit of a mixed bag this year. Having a total of 49 points to his name by the end of the season, there have been several races of note, many where he was able to make the most of the situation he found himself in.
At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, for instance, despite qualifying fourteenth, he was forced to start in sixteenth as a result of penalties but was able to work his way up the grid, battling with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for ninth position, but ultimately had to settle with tenth and one point.
The 20-year-old also impressed with his performance in the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he started seventh, making him the best-placed rookie. Despite losing a place to team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. at lights out, he was able to take sixth place from Valtteri Bottas who was forced to pit for a front wing change after contact with Scuderia Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc. He was then able to get in front of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Renault F1 Team‘s Daniel Ricciardo to finish ninth, albeit a lap down.
Although Albon, who has had a meteoric rise in Formula 1 this year, being promoted from his seat at Scuderia Toro Rosso to Red Bull, received the award at the official FIA prize-giving ceremony in Paris, Norris won the fan-led vote by a considerable amount:
- Lando Norris – 66,240 votes (76%)
- Alex Albon – 13,582 votes (16%)
- George Russell – 7,100 votes (8%)
