McLaren CEO Zak Brown hailed the performance of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris last season, claiming they drove “like future world champions”.
Having historically always had at least one world champion in the team, 2019 saw McLaren take a gamble by looking long-term with two young drivers following the departure of Fernando Alonso.
And the results were obvious as Sainz took advantage of a much-improved car to finish sixth in the Drivers’ standings, ahead of Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly both of whom raced with Red Bull for around half a year each.
Stepping up from F2, Norris was equally impressive, with reliability issues hurting his season, and Brown was simply in awe of how both men stepped up to the plate.
“We had a lot of changes coming into 2019,” he told Crash.net.
“First and foremost, two brand new drivers, neither of whom have a world championship on their CV and they’ve just done an outstanding job. They’ve driven like future world champions.
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“Carlos has come in, his fifth year in the sport, and has really performed. He’s fast; he’s great to work with; he’s a strong racer.
“And then Lando, the youngest-ever British driver – he’s shown tremendous maturity.
“We knew he was fast but he’s raced like a mature, experienced, Formula 1 driver and then, of course, when you put the two of them together, they’re quite magic in the garage and on the track.
“They feel all the great support from the fans. We’re looking forward to racing with them for many more years.”
Sainz and Norris’ positive impact wasn’t just limited to results on the track either as they formed quite the bromance over the course of the year.
While that provided plenty of laughs, the McLaren chief believes it also showed a willingness to work in the team’s interest.
“It is obvious for everyone inside and outside of the team to see that they work together very well,” Brown commented. “They approach the challenge with a great spirit and openness between each other.
“They both understand that this is absolutely required in order to push the team forward to become better and to give them a quicker car in the future.
“As soon as they are in the car it is tough competition, but at the same time it is clear that it is not about the fight between them, it is the bigger picture that counts.
“The drivers are the heroes of this sport and everyone looks up to them, even inside the team,” the CEO noted.
“If the drivers show how much they want to be part of the team and how they believe in the team, then the team will give their all for them every day.
“Carlos and Lando’s performance this year for the team inside and outside of the car is one of the fundamental reasons why we could make the step we did this year.”
