Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri showed ample signs of improvement during the 2023 F1 season. As McLaren also progressed with their performance, it gave an impetus to both the drivers to consistently fight for podiums. As it is an advantage for the team and driver, it also can create a rift between them to determine who is the best driver in the team. However, Zak Brown is confident and not bothered about this as he knows how to deal with this issue.
Brown is undeterred and composed as he knows the trick of driver management. He told Motorsport Italia, “They [Norris and Piastri] are very competitive at the moment, you can feel a real energy around them as they drive for the team. We know there will be a day, probably sooner rather than later, when they will look after their own interests.”
The 2023 F1 season was the first year for Norris and Piastri as teammates at McLaren. While this was the rookie year for the Australian, he made sure he kept the pressure on his experienced teammate to perform. In the end, Norris emerged victorious, thanks to McLaren providing him with upgrades ahead of Piastri.
The Briton claimed 205 points and took P6 in the Drivers’ Championship, while the man from Land Down Under took 97 points and a Sprint win. Despite the disparity, it is expected that the gap will shrink when the Papayas provide them with a more competitive car in 2024.
Brown also added, “I believe that Andrea’s [McLaren team principal] and my strengths are driver management, so I think we can anticipate and manage the situation to ensure that healthy competitiveness remains.” Notably, McLaren were very proactive to cool things down after the driver duo clashed with each other while jockeying for positions in Monza this season.
Zak Brown puts credit on Oscar Piastri for raising the bar for Lando Norris
Zak Brown has recently credited Oscar Piastri for raising the bar for Lando Norris to perform. This has come after the Papayas made a brilliant recovery in the latter half of the season and the drivers pushed each other to maximize the output.
This was a different scenario for McLaren and Brown to witness as veteran Daniel Ricciardo failed to do the same with the Briton during his two-year stay with the team from 2021 to 2022. In the end, Ricciardo was shown the exit door at the end of the 2022 F1 season and Piastri was brought in.
Speaking about this, Brown said to the Track Limits podcast, “I think Oscar’s keeping Lando on his toes.” The American also highlighted how their driver duo is similar and consistent in terms of performance feedback.
Both Norris and Piastri are young, agile, confident, technical, performance-oriented, and talented. Therefore, it gives the team a perfect vantage point to extract the best out of the two and take feedback from them to further improve their car.
On this, the McLaren CEO further added, “We are benefitting from having two fast drivers that are very technical. We do have experience and a rookie. It’s just our experienced guy happens to be pretty young.”
