“Making the force bigger is what we needed” - Lando Norris confident that McLaren's new signings will propel the team forward

Lando Norris recently spoke about how McLaren are gradually expanding by bringing in new personnel who will shape the team's future. The British outfit has undergone some major changes since last year, with a new team principal, new technical department structure, and lot more.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 YouTube channel, Lando Norris explained how new team members will bring in more experience, which is extremely important in F1.

"Of course, from the side of the team, and the new people, very happy. I think there's some big names coming in, which is always a great thing, a great addition," Norris said.

"People who have been in the sport for many years who have been a crucial part in success of all the teams a lot of success in other teams. So, just knowledge is one of the biggest things in Formula One and personnel."

Norris added that the existing and former team members were not at all bad while outlining how the team is trying to expand.

"So I think getting some big guys in... Not that we had bad people, because that's absolutely not true, but just making the force bigger is what we needed to go and compete against these other teams - Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, and so on," Norris said.

Lastly, Lando Norris stated that he is looking forward to what lies ahead, including the remainder of this year and the winter period where his team will work on a new car. He also mentioned the 2024 F1 season in which McLaren hope to take a huge step forward.

"Yeah it's a very good thing, still fresh at the time being, but already there's been some good improvements from the development rates and things like that; new ideas, new perspectives. So already good progress has been made," Norris said.

"So therefore, I guess I look forward to this year, I look forward to how we can go into the winter and be better prepared for '24."

The most recent announcement McLaren made about a new addition to the team involved their new chief technical officer Rob Marshall, who will start working from 2024. Marshall will be arriving from Red Bull Racing after taking a gardening leave for several months.

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Lando Norris admits McLaren's lack of race pace after a poor 2023 F1 Spanish GP

Lando Norris had a horrendous 2023 F1 Spanish GP. He accidentally collided with Lewis Hamilton on lap one, which forced him to pit for his broken front wing. At that point, he was so far behind the pack that the rest of the race was simply damage control.

In a media interaction after the race, Norris said (via formu1a.uno):

“Obviously, lap 1 cost us everything. But at the same time, it would have been unlikely to finish in the top 10 today. We’re probably the seventh quickest car, or eighth quickest car. We’re not even fighting for points at that rate.”

Lando Norris ended the race in 17th with zero points. He currently stands in 11th place in the drivers championship table with only 12 points to his name.