McLaren team CEO Zak Brown recently picked the 2023 F1 British GP as one of his most exciting moments this year. The British team started their season with an extremely slow car and were fighting for a handful of points. However, after the Austrian GP, a race before Silverstone, they brought one of the best upgrade packages that completely turned around their fortunes.
In an open letter posted on mclaren.com, Zak Brown recalled how both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were able to overtake reigning world champion Max Verstappen to lead a few laps of the 2023 F1 British GP, which was 'spine-tingling' for him to see. He reminisced about how the British fans were delighted to see McLaren lead the race for a few laps after having such a poor start to the season.
"A personal highlight for me this year was our home race at Silverstone when Lando burst into the lead at the start, with Oscar following close behind. Hearing the British fans erupt from the grandstands was a truly spine-tingling moment," he wrote.
Since it was Lando Norris who overtook Max Verstappen at the start of the race, Zak Brown praised him for his tremendous consistency and racecraft in 2023. McLaren's CEO believes Norris could soon clinch his first race win in Formula 1.
"Lando has been at the top of his game in 2023, showing tremendous pace and terrific racecraft. He can often be hard on himself when he makes a mistake, but his seven podiums are a testament to his speed and determination. That first win for him is just around the corner," he wrote.
Lando Norris finished second in Silverstone, while Oscar Piastri narrowly missed a podium finish, ending up fourth.
Lando Norris excited for McLaren's future and the trajectory of development
Lando Norris recently expressed his excitement to be working with McLaren in 2024 and pointed out that the team's development is on the right track. When asked by Sportskeeda about the 2024 F1 season during the Abu Dhabi GP, Norris insisted that his team could have the second-fastest car on the grid.
He said:
"Yeah I am very excited. I mean the thing is you know if we’d just started the season how we were in the middle, with P2 in the constructors and P2 in the drivers. I know its not that and doesn’t always work like that. But we are on the right track and that's just what I'm trying to say."
The Woking-based outfit ended 2023 on a high by securing fourth place with 302 points.