Alonso hails ‘impressive’ Norris

Lando Norris showed “impressive” pace during the 24 Hours of Daytona; that’s according to Fernando Alonso.

The McLaren reserve driver, just 18, lined up alongside Alonso and Phil Hanson in the No.23 United Autosports entry at Daytona.

It wasn’t a particularly successful night for the team as a puncture and brake issue meant they finished down in 38th place.

There was, however, a huge up side for Norris who earned the praise of double F1 World Champion Alonso.

“About my team-mates, maybe it’s not a surprise [to me], but for the people that don’t know Lando, it will be a surprise for them,” said the Spaniard. “The things he did were very impressive. The teamwork, the preparation, the focus.

“At night if you look, when we switched to wet tyres for one stint, we were fifth, one minute behind the leader. Then we switched to slick tyres again in damp conditions – all this with Lando driving – and we were 27 seconds behind the leaders.

“So even in wet conditions, his first time in a prototype, first time in Daytona, first time with Continental tyres, he recovered 33 seconds in 20 laps or something like that.

“He is 18 years old, so that is quite impressive…”