After a double points finish in Monaco, things are finally starting to look a little more promising at McLaren. They had another boost prior to this race weekend in Spain with the announcement that Rob Marshall would be joining the team from Red Bull, becoming Techincal Chief. Lando Norris thinks that is a big signing for McLaren, with his success at Red Bull being helpful:
“Just knowledge, expertise. He’s been at Red Bull for many, many years, he’s seen a lot of success with the team. He’s been with some of the best minds within Formula 1 and he’s definitely part of that group. So yeah, brains and lap-time I guess is the two big things. He’s a big person, a big signing for us as a team, I think someone that a lot of people within McLaren will look up to, and respect and so on.
With the season not starting in the way McLaren would have wanted, there has been pressure on McLaren CEO Zak Brown. However, Norris has a lot of belief in the American:
“I would say a lot. Even more now than in the past. I guess I would never want to say that I have no belief, and I never have said it and probably won’t, but definitely since the last few changes, there have been a lot of good things coming from that, both in terms of mood, atmosphere, but at the same time, also performance and things to look forward to in the future.”
The McLaren driver also joked about past qualifying results in Barcelona with Carlos Sainz, after being asked if his former team-mate was in a better mood at his home race.
“Err… yes! Apart from when I beat him in Quali here a few years ago.”
Sainz: “You did!”
“I did. I was very happy. No, a home race is always more special, and even being his team-mate it was always good to see how many fans there were here for him and so on. So, yeah, happy.”