Zak Brown: ‘Highly motivated’ Lando Norris’ confidence sky high for F1 defence

McLaren boss Zak Brown believes a “highly motivated” Lando Norris’ confidence is sky high as the British driver bids to defend his Formula One World Championship.

Norris saw off team-mate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to land his maiden title at last season’s finale in Abu Dhabi.

Norris, while admitting he was motivated to secure back-to-back triumphs, said at McLaren’s car launch he would be content if he never won the title again, having achieved his lifetime goal.

But Brown said: “There are some drivers who say: ‘I’ve won it and I’m done.’ And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Michael Schuamcher, who say: ‘I have done it once and I want to win it twice, three, four times.’

“Lando’s confidence is very high, even higher than it was before. He is highly motivated.

McLaren have won the past two constructors’ championships but could be playing catch-up to Mercedes, who appear to hold an early advantage following a major overhaul of the regulations.

McLaren are powered by Mercedes and there are claims from other teams that the German manufacturer has exploited a loophole which allows them to increase the compression ratio beyond the regulation limit of 16:1 and gain critical lap time.

And Brown added: “It is typical politics of Formula One. It is the job of other teams that if there is a perceived advantage, they will make some story out of it.

“But the reality is that the engines are completely compliant, within the rules and have passed all of the tests. We will have all the Mercedes-powered teams on the grid in Australia, I am sure.”

The second pre-season test begins in Bahrain on Wednesday ahead of three further days of testing next week – also in the Gulf Kingdom – prior to the curtain raiser in Melbourne on March 8.