Lando Norris has taken part in 53 Formula One races. That’s two more than five-time world and 24-time winner Juan Manuel Fangio but that was exceptional and they were different days.
In truth, almost all of Lando’s peer group in his karting and junior formulae have accumulated the collective total of zero formula one appearances so his stellar ability has already been recognised and recorded in the annals of F1 history.
However, that will likely be cold comfort to the Russian Grand Prix pole-sitter whose whistle stop tour to the top of the sport was halted by that untimely late race decision to stay out on slick tyres which ultimately led to a floundering plunge down the order to an eventual seventh place finish.
Or was it more probably a failure to make a decision to switch to intermediates? Either way, it was a mistake for which he quickly and impressively accepted the blame. Experience banked, we move on and the 21-year-old must wait a little longer for that first win.
He and his fans must have been mildly horrified that it was Daniel Ricciardo who led home an improbable McLaren one-two in Monza given the Australian’s season-long travails and an early shot at redressing the balance was on the cards after Norris’s brilliant drive to pole position on Saturday.
The first win will have to wait.
In the main, the occasional prodigy aside, it generally takes a little while for emerging F1 stars to make their mark with a first Grand Prix success.
Lewis Hamilton may have got the job done after just six races and Max Verstappen a relatively tardy but nonetheless impressive 24 but many of the stars of recent F1 generations have racked up the miles before getting to nudge their nosecone against the number one stand-up on Sunday afternoon.
Lando will not need reminding that Sergio Perez finally punched the air in triumph last year after a mere 190 F1 races, a horrifying statistic for a young man in a hurry.
I well remember the spontaneous round of applause in the press room at Monaco after Jarno Trulli’s maiden (and as it turned out sole) success after 117 races in 2004. Such an unusual outpouring of generosity from a cold, oftimes cynical, press corps told you something of the exhausting wait the Italian had endured.
The emotion was one of confusion turned elation in Brazil a year earlier when Trulli’s fellow countryman Giancarlo Fisichella took victory, albeit one that was only acknowledged and celebrated at the next race in Imola after an administrative snafu was corrected.
Brazil was ‘Fisi’s’ 110th race so there’s definitely time for Lando to break his duck.
What might be more of a worry is that, of the 29 world champions in history, only four have taken longer than 53 races to score their maiden F1 victory.
There’s comfort in that, though. Of the four, two are English and one is also from Somerset. Step forward Jenson Button from Frome whose first win came in Hungary 2006 on his 113th Grand Prix Sunday.
Nigel Mansell, Nico Rosberg and double world champion Mika Hakkinen also had to show patience as they waited for innate speed to be matched by experience and the right machinery to form the delicious alchemy of a successful championship assault.
Whatever you do, though, don’t mention Chris Amon to Lando until after he gets that first win, okay?
