McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Lando Norris could be a particularly standout driver as he outlines the team’s ambitions for 2025.
McLaren took a big step forward by breaking Red Bull’s dominance in the 2024 season and winning the constructors’ championship for the first time since 1998. The Woking team did not expect the 2024 season to be so successful.
Woking-based team CEO and team principal Andrea Stella admitted they did not expect to battle Red Bull and Max Verstappen for the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, despite McLaren’s progress.
However, the season turned around when McLaren brought the upgrade to Miami, where Lando Norris took his first Formula 1 victory and McLaren took the championship lead thanks to its consistency.
Norris, who was fighting for the title, finished second in the drivers’ championship, although he was unable to break Verstappen’s dominance.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, the McLaren CEO praised Norris’ performance in Abu Dhabi during the 2024 season.
“Norris carried the McLaren in that race, he didn’t make a single mistake,” Brown said. “I was worried about everything in that race, including the safety cars, but he drove flawlessly as always,” he added.
On the other hand, the American has confidence in his driver line-up to repeat the same performances as last year. However, in this case, he wants even more, and that is to bring both titles to their team in the upcoming season.
“Our goal is to win the constructors’ championship again and, of course, this time the drivers’ championship as well,” he noted. “I’ll leave that to Oscar and Lando to sort out,” he stressed.
Lando Norris had a great chance to claim his first title last year. The British driver, with the best car on the grid, was chasing Max Verstappen, who had been scoring victories in the early part of the season, and was closing the gap weekend by weekend. However, the Brazilian Grand Prix was the turning point for the title, in which the Dutch driver came from 17th position to win and thus cement the title.
As for this season, Norris has made statements that he understands how he needs to fight to eventually lift the drivers’ title. The McLaren CEO believes that their driver is ready to cross the finish line first.
“Lando will give it his all. Given the momentum he has, I definitely wouldn’t write off Norris for the title,” concluded Zak Brown.
