Norris Wasn't Challenged By His Teammate For Last Couple Of Years Says Brown

Wednesday, 10 January 2024 at 21:00

Zak Brown recently stated Lando Norris has not been challenged by his teammate for the most part of the last couple of years, but that changed with the arrival of Oscar Piastri.

Former F1 driver and current Sky Sports co-commentator Martin Brundle suggested Oscar Piastri as a teammate has been exactly what Lando Norris needed to improve.

Asked whether it was true that the rookie started pushing Norris in 2023 to elevate his driving style to the next level, McLaren's CEO Zak Brown replied Summer Grill KTM podcast:

"Lando was kind of unchallenged for the most part of the last couple of years. Even though drivers always drive to the best of their ability, we know if you have a teammate who's pushing you, you just get a little bit more without necessarily trying; it just happens."

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Norris's previous teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, unfortunately, couldn't perform in McLaren as well as he has been able to perform for other teams. This not only meant worse results but also different driver feedback, as Brown explained:

"So I think the fact that Oscar has been so close has benefited Lando. They also have a very similar feel for the car, so I think in addition to driving just faster and harder, they quite complement each other when you listen to them in the debriefs."

Piastri himself rated the relationship with Norris and the rest of the team "very good" after his first season and also mentioned the similarities in driver feedback, which is essential for car development. The McLaren CEO added:

"They kind of say the same stuff, so that's also helped the engineers and the designers pick a direction; versus one driver saying he has understeer and the other driver saying he has oversteer, you've got some engineers scratching their heads on which way to go."