As the battle to decide who will race alongside Carlos Sainz at McLaren heats up, Lando Norris is to get the opportunity to drive for the British team in Practice 1 at the Belgian GP on Friday.
It will mark the current Formula 2 racer’s first outing at a Grand Prix weekend and he will be directly alongside the man who’s seat he wants, Stoffel Vandoorne as he replaces the outgoing Fernando Alonso.
While that may bring speculation of McLaren conducting a direct comparison, Sporting Director Gil de Ferran explained that was not the case.
“This is not only part of his ongoing development, but also the evaluation and performance evolution of the car,” he said.
“We’ll be taking a strategic view race-by-race at where else this might be beneficial for us over the coming Grands Prix.
“Spa-Francorchamps has a well-deserved reputation as a racers’ circuit due to its historic significance and popularity among the drivers.
“We’ll be head down and pushing hard as usual to aim for points for both cars in front of our Belgian fans at Stoffel’s home race.”
Norris isn’t the only competition Vandoorne is facing with Esteban Ocon appearing the most likely of the two Force India drivers to face the axe to accommodate Lance Stroll with McLaren believed to be interested in the Frenchman.
Even so, the 26-year-old is looking forward to returning home and hopes to build on a strong performance in Budapest that was ultimately ended by a gearbox problem.
“Although the DNF was hugely disappointing in Hungary, I had a much more positive feeling in the car and my main objective is to carry this momentum forward to Spa and these back-to-back races.
“Spa is also my favourite track – as it is for many other drivers – and I’ve raced there all through my junior career, so it feels like a second home for me and I hope we can put on a good show for the Belgian fans.”
