McLaren unfazed by the prospect of losing Norris to other F1 teams

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Publish Date:: 10 February, 2023
Category:: Sports
Video License: Standard License
Imported From:: Youtube

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McLaren remains confident it can thwart off interest from other Formula 1 teams to retain driver Lando Norris’ services in the long term.

Norris finished best-of-the-rest behind the top three teams Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes in the drivers’ championship in 2022, proving to be McLaren’s team leader as he regularly outperformed team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Earlier in the year, Norris signed a new contract with McLaren through to the end of 2025, despite admitting he held talks with Red Bull over a deal.

Norris, though, could not hide his frustration at McLaren’s step backwards in competitiveness this season, feeling the Woking-based team’s P5 finish in the constructors’ standings and solitary podium was “not good enough”.

The recent departure of team principal Andreas Seidl to Sauber is seen as a blow to McLaren’s ambitions and has prompted suggestions that Seidl could try to tempt Norris to join him when the team rebrands as Audi in 2026.

CEO Zak Brown is wary of the attention Norris is attracting among some of the bigger teams on the grid, but does not see why McLaren cannot do what would be required to keep him in on board.

Asked if McLaren do not make enough progress it could be left vulnerable to losing Norris to another team, Brown said, as quoted by Motorsport.com: “No, because I’m convinced we’re going to give him a winning car.

“We have a long-term contract with him. I think he feels very comfortable within the team.

“Other than obviously the pressure we put on ourselves, because we don’t want to just give him a winning car, we want to give us a winning car. So, I think we’ve got a runway to get there.

“He knows the journey we’re on. He has bought into the journey that we’re on, and I think it’d be early to be worried about it.”

Norris arrived in F1 in 2019 off the back of a stellar junior career, but while he was impressed during his rise through the single-seater categories, Brown was aware that not all drivers go on to be successful in the series.

“Every step along the way, he gave you a reason to believe the next step he was going to be great,” he added.

“But we’ve seen drivers that have been great along the way and then, when they get to the top, you don’t know if it was them or the situation: Jan Magnussen right? He was mega in everything and then didn’t quite work in F1. Jos Verstappen was often mega in everything, it didn’t quite work in F1.

“Lando was mega in everything. And it has worked in F1. In fact, what I think I’m happiest to see is not just pure pace, but how few mistakes he makes, and how strong his racecraft is.

“Looking at Lando, year one. He had the pace, but probably didn’t have his elbows out enough. And now he’s fair, but he’s a tough character when you are racing.”

Norris will be partnered by rookie Oscar Piastri, who is mooted as a future star of grand prix racing after a rapid rise through the junior ranks, and Brown expects the pair will be evenly matched.

“I think Lando is one of the fastest drivers on the grid and I expect Oscar to be close,” Brown explained.

“I expect Oscar to have some opportunities to beat him and vice versa. And that’s obviously what you want, right? It’s two drivers right next to each other and reversing the order.”