Amid Lando Norris Poaching Rumors, Zak Brown & Co. Lauded for Turning the Tide on Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen is arguably the toughest teammate to have. As Jenson Button said while commenting on the tough teammate jibe by Lewis Hamilton, Button advised that even he would be intimidated by having Verstappen as his teammate. However, Norris seems to be up for the challenge. Zak Brown and Co. were recently lauded for turning the tide against the dominant Dutchman amid the Lando Norris poaching rumors. What was McLaren lauded for?

Sergio Perez’s performances have had a steep downfall ever since the Miami GP. Red Bull has since then been rumored to be looking for another second driver. Lando Norris’ name popped up time and time again. Norris’ comments about being Max Verstappen’s teammate added fuel to the fire. However, Zak Brown denied any rumor at all by advising that Norris would stay with McLaren until the contract ended.

While a move to Red Bull made sense early on in the season when McLaren was struggling, the Papaya team has had a turnaround that only a team can dream about. McLaren is arguably the second fastest team on the grid, even since the major upgrades were brought in Austria. Since then, all the upgrades brought by Zak Brown and Co. have worked exactly how the team wanted them to. And recently, the team was recognized as Red Bull’s closest long-term competitor in light of the recent upgrades.

According to @McLarenF1_News’ tweet, which quoted auto-motor-und-sport.de, it was advised, “McLaren can become Red Bull’s biggest opponent in the long term. Because the engineers obviously understand what they are doing. Every upgrade since the Austrian GP has taken full effect.”

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McLaren brought a huge upgrade package to the Singapore GP that aimed at improving their pace around low-speed corners, and that’s exactly what the upgrades did. Both Red Bulls, on the other hand, were knocked out in Q2 as the car didn’t work as the drivers expected it to. However, Lando Norris, in the upgraded McLaren, was happy with the performance.

Lando Norris surprised to be ahead of both Red Bulls

McLaren brought a revised floor and side-pods along with accompanying aero updates to other parts for Lando Norris’ McLaren at the Singapore GP. The pace looked great on long runs and Norris ended up in P4 during the qualifying session. Just shows that the car is working well at a track that wasn’t believed to be to MCL60’s strong hand. 

During the post-qualifying interview, Lando Norris said, “To be P4, I know maybe some people expected more but I’m very happy with it. I think we were probably closer to the top than we thought. To be ahead of Mercedes [Lewis Hamilton] and both Red Bulls was a bit of a surprise so a good day, but turning it into some points is the main thing.”

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What do you think? Will Lando Norris be able to put his McLaren on the podium?