McLaren deny Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari forced them into early Lando Norris deal
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has dismissed suggestio𒁃ns that murmurings of Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari influenced how quickly they handed Lando Norris a new F1 contract.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has downplayed suggestions that 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari played a factor in 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris’ latest F1 contraಞct🙈 extension at the start of this year.
Norris signed a new multi-year McLaren deal, with the team announcing it just one week before Hamilton’s bombshell💦 switch to Ferrari was revealed.
Many have suggested that Norris’ contract extension ꦰwas wrapped up sooner to ensure the British driver was taken off the driver market, ensuring Mercedes could not sign him as a possible Hamilton replacement.
It means McLaren have Norris and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Oscar Piastri contracted until the end of 2026, ♓giving the Woking outfi🌱t one of the most exciting line ups on the grid.
Speaking after the official launch of McLaren’s 2024 F1 challenger, Brown told Sky Sports Ne🐬ws that Hamilton’s Ferrari move played no role in Norris’ new deal.
“We were aware that there was potentially some movement, but that didn’t really have anything to do with Lando,” Brown said. “We’d signed him up. Previously, we’re just waiting for him to get back to actually ma꧋ke the announcement.
“But we knew that Lando and of course🍰 Oscar, but we had Oscar si𝄹gned up for a while, both are hot properties.
“So it was less about knowing🐬 specifically what was going on with Lewis and Ferrari and Mercedes as much as knowing Lando is top of everybody’s list and ours included.”
After a po🍸or start, McLaren enjoyed a remarkable resurgence in the second half of 2023, ultimately finishing fourth in the co🥃nstructors’ championship.
Particularly at high-speed circuits such as Silverstone, Suzuka and Losail, McLaren💞 could challenge Red Bull on outright pace.
Brown believes Norris’ confidence in McLaren, and the progress they’ve shown, is the reason he wanted to commit his f🥀uture.
“We had a really strong sꦑecond half of the year, and I think Lando has got the same confidence we do in the team and belief in ourselves. And so it was great to get him signed up,” h⛄e added.
“And I think, what I’ve really focused on is bringing st🍬ability to the team.
“So with our new hires, or your existing team, Andrea [Stella], technology infrastructure, we’re just trying to keep our head down, be focused, and th💟ere’s some drama going ♏on in the sport at the moment we don’t want to be part of.”
With a sharp eye for F1’s con💜troversies and storyline🌜s, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.
