Lando Norris will be given his second outing in as many races for McLaren as he is set to replace Stoffel Vandoorne during FP1 of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The Brit was on duty for Fernando Alonso this weekend in first practice and will get another opportunity at the next race also.
McLaren confirmed on Saturday at Spa that the Formula 2 driver would be at the wheel of Vandoorne's car next Friday ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. Norris was heaped in praise by McLaren's sporting director Gil de Ferran ahead of his second outing for the team on a race weekend.
"He did a great job actually," de Ferran is quoted by Crash.net. "One thing he certainly has is he adapts himself very quickly to any new situation. I've seen that on the tests that he had and the same thing happened here.
"As part of his development, we wanted to bring him here because of different downforce level, a lot more cars on the track, a lot of track evolution and wanted to give him that experience. That was the same thing. He came up to speed very quickly and did a fine job for us, didn't make any mistakes. He was absolutely fine.
"He will be in Monza in FP1 as we continue to help him develop his skills."
De Ferran did note that the development of Norris was at the forefront of the recent outings rather than a view to an immediate promotion. He added that they would continue to monitor him ahead of a possible 2019 race seat at the team.
"It's very hard to assess a driver in the strength of one free practice or one session or one qualifying session. I think you need to step back and take a wider view.
"That's been the same for everyone. I think these free practice sessions are really more about giving Lando exposure and help him along the development plan."
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