McLaren issues team orders: Oscar Piastri will get opportunities to beat Lando Norris

McLaren boss Zak Brown feels Oscar Piastri will be very close to Lando Norris in the first season and will have opportunities to beat him as well. Piastri was an Alpine Academy driver who was poached by the Woking-based squad as they struggled with Daniel Ricciardo's performance in one of the cars.

When questioned about what his expectations were from his most recent signing, Zak Brown revealed that he believed Piastri would have the opportunity to beat Norris during the season and both drivers would be close to each other on pace. He said:

“I think Lando is one of the fastest drivers on the grid and I expect Oscar to be close. I expect Oscar to have some opportunities to beat him and vice versa. And that's obviously what you want, right? It's two drivers right next to each other and reversing the order.”

When questioned about the impressive growth shown by Lando Norris at McLaren, Brown reflected on the early days of the young driver and how he has been able to hone his driving and get better every time. He said:

“Lando was mega in everything. And it has worked in F1. In fact, what I think I'm happiest to see is not just pure pace, but how few mistakes he makes, and how strong his racecraft is. Looking at Lando, year one. He had the pace, but probably didn't have his elbows out enough. And now he's fair, but he's a tough character when you are racing.”

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McLaren not worried about losing Lando Norris

McLaren has Lando Norris signed on a long-term deal with the team. With the car not truly matching the kind of performances put together by the young driver, however, there have been question marks over how long the team can keep a hold of him.

Zak Brown, however, is not too bothered by these speculations as he feels Norris is comfortable with the team and McLaren can give him the car that he deserves. He said:

"No, because I'm convinced we're going to give him a winning car. We have a long-term contract with him. I think he feels very comfortable within the team. Other than obviously the pressure we put on ourselves, because we don't want to just give him a winning car, we want to give us a winning car. So, I think we've got a runway to get there. He knows the journey we're on. He has bought into the journey that we're on, and I think it'd be early to be worried about it.”

The Woking-based squad will have one of the most exciting driver partnerships next year with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, two young promising talents facing up against each other.