Zak Brown reiterated that the said Lando Norris to Mercedes F1 deal remains a ‘fake news’ as he praised the McLaren racer for a sound rookie season.
Weeks after McLaren renewed its contract with Norris and Carlos Sainz for the 2020 F1 season and just after it signed a deal with Mercedes for its power units from 2021 onward, reports linked the British driver the the German manufacturer.
The stories stated that the company which broke the deal between McLaren and Mercedes for 2021 and beyond was that of Norris’ father and that he also cut a deal which would help the F1 rookie to have a future with the German team.
Those reports were quickly debunked by everyone involved at that time. Brown was asked again about the said deal and if there is any truth, the American reiterated the statements and put it under the ‘fake news’ category, while praising Norris for the 2019 season.
“I saw that [stories], I’ll put that in the fake news category [certainly],” said Brown to media including FormulaRapida.net. “It is a 100 percent no. I don’t know how it got tied to his father, but definitely no. There is no deal, not at all.
“I think as a 19-year-old rookie, coming in F1 with McLaren, we take for granted that these drivers come in and will just settle in with all the pressure they are under. I think he is a breath of fresh air and he is really honest with himself.
“I actually think at times, he is more critical about a session and a lap than we are. To me that is, he constantly wants to improve and he is analysing of what he is doing and how much he can improve, you can imagine, some 19-year-olds might not have that.
“Especially, to look into the mirror and think ‘a 19-year-old F1 superstar’, he is quite grounded [in that regard].” Brown was of full praise for Norris and even Sainz for that matter after the two helped McLaren to finish fourth in the standings.
Here’s Top 10 of 2019 with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris in both
Here’s what Carlos Sainz said regarding his 2019 F1 season
Here’s Lando Norris on his rookie F1 season
