McLaren have to manage Norris expectations in 2019

McLaren boss Zak Brown believes it will be crucial for the team to manage their young star Lando Norris' expectations during the 2019 season. McLaren struggled throughout 2018 as their focus switched to next season instead which affected their performance negatively throughout.

Norris impressed in Formula 2 last year with a title challenge against Mercedes junior driver and 2019 Williams race driver George Russell, ultimately coming up short.

Despite missing out on the title, McLaren's excitement about their new line-up which includes Carlos Sainz who makes the switch from Renault is high although Brown admitted that managing expectations would be key to their season.

“Lando clearly is extremely talented,” Brown is quoted by Crash.net.

“We’ve seen him in our race car a good amount now and what we need to do is nurture him, manage expectations internally and externally, and give him the equipment to show his talent.

“We know Carlos is an extremely quick and experienced race car driver so your first measure is against your teammate.

“We expect them to race each other hard, race each other cleanly, and for sure, they need to get the measure of each other from time to time.

“He recognises he's going to make some rookie mistakes, we recognise he's going to have some race tracks he's never been to before. And we're in a rebuilding process.

“So it's one thing to jump into a team that is rebuilding compared to jumping into the championship calibre car. He's got a difficult team and we are going to be patient with him.”