Lando Norris sets up his own junior team to get young drivers to F1

World champion Lando Norris is setting up his own junior team to support young drivers on their route to Formula 1, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson reports from Casatenovo.

LN4 Fusion, launched near Monza on the eve of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, will run teams across multiple feeder categories from next season. It will be run by Rene Rosin, the founder and former boss of Prema, one of the most successful teams in the junior categories over the past two decades.

What Lando Norris is actually building

Running in parallel is what is described as "an independent, fully funded driver development" scheme, to be called the LN4 Legacy Programme.

"I've been really lucky to have some amazing people around me throughout my career, and I know that getting to Formula 1 takes so much more than just talent," Norris said. "You need the right people around you, the right support and the right opportunities at the right time. That's what these two projects are all about. LN4 Fusion is about building a race team that can compete with the best in junior motorsport, with great people and a great environment for drivers to develop. The LN4 Legacy Programme is about helping talented young drivers get opportunities they might not otherwise have."

Where the teams will race

The programme will field teams in the Italian F4 Championship, the FIA Formula Regional European Championship and the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2027. The aim is to compete in Formula 2 that season too, but the application process for that has not yet been completed.

Norris will be co-owner alongside an investment group run by businessman Dan Richards, who has a background in technology. The main headquarters will be in Veneto, Italy, while the UK arm — led by Dan Hazlewood, head of the Fusion Motorsport karting team — will be based in Cambridgeshire and run a programme in British F4. The young driver programme will be run by Julian Rouse, formerly head of a similar scheme at the Alpine F1 team. Elsewhere in the paddock, JOE has covered Max Verstappen saying he came closer to retiring than to leaving Red Bull.