Lando Norris is developing into one of the best drivers in the Formula 1 field. McLaren CEO Zak Brown is thoroughly enjoying his protégé, who hasn't made a big mistake in 2021.
A very mature rookie
Norris is currently third in the world championship and has a big lead over teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who can't quite get his MCL35M under control. Norris has been driving for McLaren since 2019, which has allowed Brown to keep a close eye on his development.
"Lando has really matured. He came to the team as a rookie and was a very mature driver", says Brown. Motorsport-Total.com. "If you look at other rookies that came here, they often had accidents. They were fast, but exceeded the limit too often. Lando doesn't do that." According to Brown, there has always been a certain calmness and composure with Norris, without his performance suffering as a result.
Norris needed to drive more on the limit
Because Norris always drives so cleanly, the young Briton was asked to push the limits more in his second season. "We encouraged him and said it's okay if things go wrong once in a while," Brown revealed. The American reveals that that encouragement has paid off: "What we saw is that he got even faster, was able to stretch his elbows, but still keep the car on the track."
Brown reveals that in his first year with the British team, Norris was still regularly looking at his then teammate Carlos Sainz. "Now we can see that he will be right there in the first session on Friday. We are very happy with how Lando has developed and believe he is driving at a very high level," concluded Brown.