Rob Dodds is standing shoulder to shoulder with Lando Norris. Dodds is wearing a dark suit jacket and a light blue shirt, while Norris is wearing a grey waistcoat and a white shirt. Both are looking ahead and smiling. Behind them is a large mirror and a lamp.
Rob Dodds said Lando Norris' Formula 1 celebration party was "surreal" [BBC]

Lando Norris' childhood go-karting coach has shared the "lovely" thank-you gift the Formula 1 star left for him.

Rob Dodds was invited to be a guest at a party Norris threw to thank everyone who helped him become world champion in December.

And when Dodds returned to his hotel room after the event, he found a signed crash helmet from one of the star's races.

"On the top it said 'To Rob, where my journey to F1 all started! Thank you. World Champions, Lando Norris'," the coach, who now lives in Dorset, told BBC Radio Somerset.

Dodds said the party, which the 26-year-old racer held at a hotel in Surrey, was "surreal".

He said he sat on the same table as Norris and his family, surrounded by other people who supported the racer such as McLaren Racing's chief executive officer Zak Brown.

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Norris, who was born in Bristol but grew up in Somerset, won his first F1 championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He took the title by two points from rival Max Verstappen and became the 11th British F1 world champion.

"He [Norris] made a speech through the course of the evening and he had done little videos," Dodds said.

"One started with myself and him chatting about what we'd get up to. It was very emotional," he added.

A Perspex case contains a neon yellow helmet. The helmet has a design with black shapes across it which never touch. On the surface of the frame is the message Norris left Dodds in white marker.
Dodds said the message Norris left him was "lovely" [BBC]

And there was another surprise yet to come.

"While we were at the party they had gone to the room and he'd actually put one of his old crash helmets in there in a Perspex frame," Dodds said.

"That was a lovely thing to have," he added.

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