F1 News: McLaren CEO Reveals Plans Of How To Hold On To Lando Norris

Zak Brown lists all that he has to offer Norris that would convince him to stay with McLaren.

An unfavorable start to the season saw drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggle quite badly to score points for the team, courtesy of the mountain of challenges McLaren faced on their F1 car. The period after June however transformed the situation for the team. It was as if the team got hold of a magic wand for the MCL60.

Upgrades on the McLaren F1 car mid-season improved its performance drastically, allowing Norris to secure double second places at the British and Hungarian Grands Prix. Brown believes that the boost in performance was an important milestone to prove to Norris that the team still has enough 'oomph' to chase the title in the coming years. 

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Norris has been with McLaren for five years and Zak Brown felt the need to highlight the positives in order to convince the 23-year-old racer that the team offers the perfect environment that supports winning. Speaking of the recent boost in performance, Brown told ESPN:

"I think it's been massively important for all of us. It shows we can do it.

"That being said, we haven't won [a Grand Prix] with [Norris] yet.

"He loves McLaren, it's been his family, so there's no doubt in my mind is his number one choice is to win a World Championship with McLaren.

"I think the best thing we do to retain him is to demonstrate to him we're a team capable of doing that.

"It's not a case of wooing him or not wooing him, it's about giving him a car where he can look himself in the mirror and say 'I think I can win a World Championship with this team'."

To further prove to Norris that the team has indeed been serious about taking the F1 title route, there have been various role changes within the organization, the latest key shuffle being the replacement of technical director James Key by a three-member design team comprising Peter Prodromou, Neil Houldley, and David Sanchez. 

The team also bought its own wind tunnel at its headquarters in Woking which was a significant step ahead as it would no longer have to depend on the Toyota facility in Cologne for testing. And with the 2026 power unit regulations, Brown believes the team has everything to gear ahead of the others. He said:

"We've got our team in place. It's stable. We have additional talent coming to be additive to what we currently have. We have all the financial resources we need.

"It's just going to take a little bit of time so as long as we can show this progress, '26 is going to be a huge reset for this sport and there's not going to be any excuses for us. We have everything we need from resources, people, two great drivers, all the technology, infrastructure.

"As long as [Norris] continues to see our pace and development then I think he'll have all the confidence in the world that this team's won 20 World Championships and have everything they need.

"You look down the grid, there's as many unknowns about '26. Red Bull with a new engine, how's that going to be? They've never done that before. There's all sorts of variables going on there and I think our story is as good as anyone's."

Brown laid out plenty of potent points that could convince not only Norris but any budding F1 driver to stay. But the question is, would he?