Lando Norris Slams Exit Rumours Insisting He Has "Faith" In McLaren
Lando Norris insists that he still has faith in McLaren despite their rocky start to the 2023 season.
After a disappointing start to the 2023 season and internal restructuring, the Belgian-British driver remains optimistic about the future of McLaren, citing the team's leadership as a major factor in his confidence. This comes after a huge amount of speculation over Norris's future with the team, even though he is still in contract with zero exit clauses.
With Andreas Seidl's sudden departure to Sauber, McLaren appointed Andrea Stella as team boss in early 2023. Despite a challenging start to the season and admitting to developing in the wrong direction with the MCL60, Norris has praised the team's leadership and Stella's appointment, stating that it has given him renewed faith.
"I gain faith from the people that I work with," Norris explained. "Andrea gives me a lot of faith, probably the most I’ve seen in my time here in F1. So that’s a good thing."
Norris also recognises the importance of personnel in achieving successful results but refrains from pointing out who specifically is responsible.
"I don’t know who is amazing, and who isn’t. I guess I have the understanding, like, everyone knows who Adrian Newey is. Everyone knows of people who have done things for many years in the past and created history."
Following McLaren's restructuring, technical director James Key departed and was replaced by David Sanchez, the former head of aerodynamics at Ferrari.
Despite the changes and setbacks, Norris remains confident that the team will bounce back. He attributes this to the team's leadership, stating:
"I think a lot of it for me is personnel."
Racing will commence again on the 28-30 April for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix followed by the Miami Grand Prix on May 5-7.