How the mutual faith between Norris and McLaren F1 is finally paying off

“I regard Lando as a fabulous prospect,” Brown said at the time. “He blew the doors off his rivals in not one but three highly competitive race series last year, then capped that by establishing himself as the clear winner of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.”

The race went haywire for Norris after a botched strategy call cost him a likely maiden win, and it was long unfairly used as a stick to beat Norris with, allegedly a sign of him buckling under the pressure on those rare occasions when the highest prize came within reach.

Brown and Norris’s team bosses – first Andreas Seidl, then Andrea Stella – consistently waved away any criticism on their golden child, even though a self-critical Norris was often the first to slate himself for various mistakes in qualifying over the past two seasons, singling out his consistency as a key weakness he addressed over the past winter.

“Lando definitely stands together with them,” Stella explained before the start of this season. “It is the same category of world championship material, the underlying talent, the mindset, the work ethos. It’s all ready to go.”

That’s why McLaren was so adamant to ensure it would complete its shared journey with Norris to the top, handing him generous contract renewals to fend off frequent interest from Red Bull, with his latest extension in January this year tying Norris to the squad “beyond the 2026 season”.

“Yes,…