Norris completely surprised. "I don't think anyone expected this."

Silly season was started because Sebastian Vettel announced that he would not renew his contract at Ferrari. Norris had not seen it coming. "I'm not surprised that Ricciardo is coming to McLaren. For me the bigger surprise was that Vettel left Ferrari, and that Carlos Sainz takes his place."

The young Englishman tells Motorsport.com that this did something to him: "I think I was a bit in shock, especially because nobody expected that Seb wouldn't sign with Ferrari". Then there had to be shifted between drivers, Norris also knew. "When Seb didn't sign, you knew something was going to happen, something surprising. Of course Carlos went for it and he got the seat. Well done and I give it to him wholeheartedly."

Ricciardo as a new teammate

The cheerful Englishman will get a teammate next year who has more experience than Sainz. Ricciardo comes over after a brief adventure at Renault. "Daniel has a lot of experience, and he knows how to win races. Carlos didn't know that although I do think Carlos is a very good driver."

Norris continues about his upcoming teammate. "Daniel knows what it's like on a top team and that's what you need to win races. That mentality is different from Carlos." For the first time in his career, Norris gets a new teammate with the same team. Usually he was the one who left. "I've never been on a team for more than two years so this is a new situation for me. I don't really know what to expect. We'll see next year", the driver concludes.