Zak Brown believes that Lando Norris doesn’t get enough recognition
The CEO of the McLaren team, Zak Brown, is looking forward to seeing his new duo of drivers in action this year, with the arrival of Oscar Piastri.
Like Williams and AlphaTauri, the McLaren team will also welcome a rookie this year: Australian Oscar Piastri has been chosen to replace his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, after a tumultuous saga with Alpine. McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, doesn’t hide his enthusiasm: he believes that the newcomer will be sensational, while Lando Norris keeps improving more and more.
In a lengthy interview on the official McLaren website, the American had nothing but praise for the young English driver, who was the only one to secure a podium apart from the Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes teams in 2022. This year, 2023, will already mark his fifth season with McLaren.
« He keeps getting better. He does incredible qualifying laps. I don’t think he gets enough credit for showing how amazing he can be when it’s time to perform, assures the boss of the Woking team, visibly impressed by his talent. « You know, we’re in Free Practice 3 and then bam, he shows up in qualifying when he needs to in Q3, and [we think] ‘Wow, where did that come from?’. And he does that often.
« He makes very few mistakes, he rarely makes big mistakes, he continues. « So, if I look at when he started compared to now, he has a very high level of confidence – but no arrogance – and he is definitely one with the team and the race car… If I compare the first season to now, his racing technique is exponentially better. »
Duo Norris-Piastri
Zak Brown also has very high expectations for his Norris-Piastri driver duo, following the resounding failure of Daniel Ricciardo. He expects the pair to do good for McLaren, as the new Australian recruit has won the FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships in his first seasons.
We believe that Oscar is going to become a sensational race car driver. If you look at his career so far, he has won many championships in his first year, which always tells you that a driver is special. He has a great mental approach to the sport and now that we feel Lando has a lot of experience, we have a great mix of experience and youth, says the McLaren boss.
Zak Brown concludes by stating that everyone at Woking is very excited about the potential of this new line-up, hoping to do better than 5th place in the 2022 championship…
