McLaren boss praises Norris: "He's definitely ready to win"

McLaren had a difficult season start in Bahrain, with both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finishing well outside the top ten. CEO Zak Brown admits that the result strongly reminded him of a low point he thought was behind him.

"I left Bahrain with the same feeling as in 2017 all over again," Brown says on the F1 Nation podcast. In doing so, he is referring to the difficult time McLaren went through in the three seasons it raced with Honda engines, a collaboration that ultimately did not pay off.

Brown hopes for more results like in Imola

He continued: "Then I thought: we've spent four, five years making improvements since 2017, how did we end up back here?" However, with the Bahrain Grand Prix still fresh in the memory, the following races showed an upward trend for the British racing stable. Brown is therefore hoping that the disappointing result of the opening race was a one-off.

So far, that indeed seems to be the case, as Norris and Ricciardo have since shown a pace that allows them to finish well within the top ten. A highlight came in the form of a podium finish for Norris at Imola, where he had been looking good all weekend.

Brown believes that Norris has now raised the bar even higher. He refers to the small number of mistakes the driver makes, on top of the necessary dose of talent he has. "He is definitely ready to win, now we just need to put him in a position to win," concludes the McLaren boss.