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Lando Norris Covers Up Harsh Reality of Zak Brown’s Tragic Failure With $135,000,000 Excuse

Published 07/05/2023, 12:30 PM EDT

Lewis Hamilton used the ‘my team doesn’t listen to me’ card to protect his underperformance with the ground effect cars. Similarly, Lando Norris has thrown the $135,000,000 ceiling under the bus as tries to cover up the stinging reality of Zak Brown’s failure at McLaren. How did the Briton cover it up? What exactly did Lando Norris say?

McLaren brought new upgrades to the Austrian GP on Lando Norris’ car. The difference in performance was quite visible between Norris’ and Oscar Piastri’s cars. Lando Norris fought for the podium for a major part of the race before finishing P4. This is more likely what we expected McLaren to start the season with. Nonetheless, as they say, it’s never too late. With Oscar Piastri’s car getting the same upgrade for the British GP, things look on the up for the Papaya team.

However, one must never forget where they came from as it teaches some invaluable lessons. Zak Brown and Co. made some huge changes including a reshuffle to get out of the performance slump. However, the changes weren’t successful until now. McLaren was arguably the slowest car at the start of the season. Nonetheless, Lando Norris was recently asked if the MCL60 is the least competitive. The Briton downplayed Zak Brown and Co’s failure advising how other teams have done and the $135 million budget cap played a role in it.

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As Lando Norris talked about McLaren’s bad luck, according to the F1: Beyond the Grid podcast, he said, “I mean we’ve definitely been unlucky at times. It’s more than every other team is doing decently. You know we’ve got the budget cap coming into play more and more. So the smaller things which didn’t matter quite so much in the previous years, you’re paying the price for them more than ever. There is no struggling or bad team in Formula 1.”

There is no doubt that Zak Brown missed his marker along with everyone at Woking this time around with the MCL60. While the recovery looks positive, the teams around are also developing and bringing huge changes to the British GP. Norris also advised the closeness of the grid is another reason for unfavorable results.

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Lando Norris suggests a couple of tenths can be the make-or-break difference.

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While Red Bull has been dominating the field by a postcode, behind them the fight actually is pretty close. Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Ferrari locked in a fight of their own being within a tenth or two of each other. The midfield and the backmarker can’t really be distinguished as the performance varies from track to track. Lando Norris emphasized the same advising how a tenth of two makes a huge difference.

According to the F1: Beyond the Grid podcast, Lando Norris said “Now if you’re a couple of tenths off, you can genuinely be at last place. If you put a lap together, you can get into Q3 and look like a hero. It’s not that everyone else is doing extremely well, no one is doing badly. So when you don’t have a car which is put together quite right, you then have to say that it’s a car that didn’t perform as well and is the least competitive.”

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What do you think about Norris covering up the harsh reality of Zak Brown’s failure?

WATCH THIS STORY | Lando Norris & Zak Brown join hands to invest $37 million in exciting F1 venture

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports, who has always been passionate about sports and writing. With a degree from a prestigious institute, he has channeled his enthusiasm into sports journalism, particularly F1, a sport that has captivated him for over a decade. Pranay's deep-rooted love for the sport began during the Sebastian Vettel era, and he has been following it religiously ever since.

Edited by:

Aishwary Gaonkar

Lando Norris Covers Up Harsh Reality of Zak Brown’s Tragic Failure With $135,000,000 Excuse

Lando Norris suggests a couple of tenths can be the make-or-break difference.

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