“Stretching Lando”: Months After Calls for Ouster, Zak Brown’s $505,000 Move Hailed for Getting the Best Out of Norris

Ever since Lando Norris joined McLaren, he got a taste of what success feels like. But that taste stayed a taste and the team never allowed him to make a meal out of it. As a result, Zak Brown, the then-Team Principal (now CEO) who had signed him, got a lot of flak for reducing the Woking outfit to an inconsistent performer. But the team’s current resurgence has been credited to Brown’s genius move – the move that has got Norris going.

Brown made headlines in 2022 when he signed Oscar Piastri for 2023, on a $505,000 contract value (as per news.com.au). At the beginning of this season, no one could see the point of that move. The Australian rookie did not look like a formidable force on the racetrack. But with the quicker, upgraded MCL60, Piastri is giving good competition to Norris. And that healthy competition is bringing out the best in the Briton. Finally, Brown’s move is paying off.

On his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor finally gave Brown the due credit he deserves for the team’s turnaround. Windsor said, “Zak Brown’s philosophy of having Lando having to race Oscar Piastri is working. Because it’s really stretching Lando and they know where the pace of the car really is.”

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As Zak Brown’s move starts to do wonders for the team, Norris, too has set his eyes on higher goals for this season.

Lando Norris Stays Upbeat as He Lauds McLaren for Steady Progress and Sets Higher Targets

The kind of way in which McLaren started the season, no one was expecting them to even progress within the midfield. But their work has plucked them out of the midfield and right in the podium places. From the outside, it looks like their time has come. But after the Hungarian GP, Norris’ response showed the true champion in him as he believed that their time is yet to come.

“At the minute we’re very happy with the progress we’ve made,” said Norris post-race. “To go from where we were four, five races ago, struggling to make it out of Q1 to fighting for poles and for podiums, we’ll take it for now and our time will come later in the year.“

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For fans, there is going to be no loss of racing action as F1 makes its way to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP the coming weekend. Can Norris and McLaren continue their podium streak at Spa?