While he stopped short of shaving it completely, more than 36,000 people watched McLaren driver Lando Norris cut his hair live on Twitch after a coronavirus fundraiser last weekend.
« It doesn’t suit me, it just doesn’t, » the previously curly-haired 20-year-old complained after inspecting the self-inflicted buzz cut.
Norris, who has 1.3 million followers on Instagram and is a regular on esports platforms in the absence of any real racing, made the pledge in raising more than $12,000 in online racing for the fight against the coronavirus.
The Brit had pledged to shave his head if he surpassed $10,000.
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) April 2, 2020
Many, including McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz, quickly hyped the prospect of « Baldo Norris » — a photoshopped image of Norris with no hair that went viral last year — but Norris stopped short of going that far.
« To be honest, if I had hair as bad as that I’d probably shave it off as well, » joked compatriot and Williams rival George Russell, who will be racing Norris in a Formula One esports race on Sunday.
Norris and Sainz recently took joined senior McLaren management in taking a pay cut, and the team became the first F1 outfit to furlough staff due to the coronavirus pandemic. McLaren still has 100 to 150 employees working on the Project Pitlane initiative to build ventilators to help fight the illness.
During the stream, Norris paid tribute to his McLaren colleagues. The British team is currently in the mandated three-week shutdown of its factories — that is usually a two-week spell reserved for August’s summer break, but has been moved forward due to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic that has indefinitely delayed the start of the F1 season.
It remains unclear when F1 will start its 2020 season. CEO Chase Carey is still optimistic of securing 15 to 18 races, although that is based on a best-case scenario of the season starting at some point in the summer. Carey’s predecessor, Bernie Ecclestone, has a bleaker outlook, suggesting last week F1 will not have a 2020 championship season at all.
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/28989804/norris-live-shaves-head-charity
