Max Verstappen held off Lando Norris to win the Formula 1 drivers’ title in 2024 but this year the McLaren man is the favourite and boss Zak Brown believes the hype
McLaren chief Zak Brown believes Lando Norris has never been better equipped to beat Max Verstappen to Formula 1 glory. The Brit fell short by 63 points last year but came into the current season as the bookies’ favourite for the title.
Norris underlined that status by calmly holding off Verstappen in the Melbourne rain last Sunday to win the first race of the season. “Lando has learned how to race Max,” said McLaren boss Brown. “With all the noise last year, Lando was tired of it. He has got his own personality, which people love about him, but others see that as a vulnerability. He is just an honest guy who doesn’t play games.
“This year, he is in a different mindset of like, ‘No, I can beat this guy. I have shown you I can beat this guy. And I am going to beat this guy and I don’t want to hear it anymore’.”
McLaren won their first constructors’ title since 1998 but still Norris, 25, felt the sting of not at least putting up a stronger fight for the drivers’ crown. But Brown has been impressed by how both the Brit and team-mate Oscar Piastri have come into the new season hungry for more.
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The American said: “I was talking to his trainer and he had a killer January. He has come into this season fitter and more focused. He is confident, determined, prepared, and you can see it in the way he talks and the questions he asks. In Australia, he was totally in control and totally unfazed.
“Our drivers disappear in January – we give them January off – and he and Oscar came back in fantastic. You could just tell they’ve been very focused, training, very engaged with the racing team to understand the developments on the car.
“In Australia, Lando felt very in control. Lot of pressure on you when you’ve got your team-mate and Max in your DRS when you have those conditions, and I think there were three or four restarts. He was just very in control. The team was great. He knew what he wanted. He knew when to listen and just felt like a very mature drive in what were very tricky conditions.”
It has been a long time since McLaren last experienced the situation they currently find themselves in. Norris’ victory in Melbourne marked the first time the Woking-based outfit has won the first race of any season since 2012.
And, after several years of hunting Red Bull, like everyone else was trying to, McLaren have suddenly become the hunted. Not that Brown believes it has changed anything about their approach to the long season ahead.
He said: “Pressure is always on in Formula 1 – every weekend, every session. It’s a great start to the season. Clearly the car is very fast and the team has done a great job. [But] every time [Verstappen] is in the mix, he’s a difficult guy to beat. And I think it’s going to continue to be very close.”
