Zak Brown says he is eager not to interfere too much with the schedule of Lando Norris during the 2018 season, despite an impressive sportscar debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last month.
Norris will be the McLaren F1 Team’s reserve driver in 2018, and will also compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Carlin Motorsport, but Brown, the executive director of McLaren and the co-owner of the United Autosports squad that gave him the outing in Daytona, is reluctant to put any more pressure onto the eighteen-year-olds shoulders this season.
Brown partnered Norris alongside Fernando Alonso at Daytona, but whilst the Spaniard is to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, Norris will not be expected to add any unnecessary workloads to his schedule.
“I think you need to be a little bit careful with the younger ones,” said Brown on Crash. “This is an off-season normally where all the other drivers would be out golfing or whatever, their other off-season activities.
“I think it’s really good for Lando to see how Fernando approaches a race weekend. Fernando goes into a race weekend more prepared than any other driver I’ve ever seen. He’s got an unbelievable discipline and thirst for information.
“Obviously you have a view of how they have speed, but Lando is very, very quick, and what he’s going to learn from Fernando is how to go quicker, but more importantly how to approach a race weekend and the level of professionalism that Fernando brings.
“So on that basis, I think it’s very good, but I probably want to be less disruptive with Lando through the season than someone like Fernando because of the experience he has.”
