At first glance, McLaren‘s 2023 Formula 1 season seems to be a disastrous one. What makes this even worse is the fact that the Woking-based team has not been able to capitalize on the positive momentum they had gained in the previous seasons. At least in terms of car performance. That being said, while the team is ailing from a misfiring MCL60, McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that this year they at least have one deciding aspect of the team going in their favor.

After offloading an underperforming Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren chose to put their faith in F1 rookie Oscar Piastri. On the other side of the garage, the team has 23-year-old Lando Norris putting in his shift. Norris has been one of the rising stars of the sport. In the last five years he’s spent with the team, he’s quickly become the beacon of hope McLaren has for future championship success.

Zak Brown believes McLaren has a solid foundation for success

On the track, however, the team finds itself in a crisis situation. By their own admission, they missed their developmental targets. And the car they started the season with was not on par with their expectations. Even the major upgrades they brought during the Baku race weekend didn’t do much to change their fortunes. Then why is Zak Brown still so optimistic about the future?

In an interview with PlanetF1.com, Brown revealed, “We’re excited about our lineup. I think for the foreseeable future this one is as good as anyone’s if not better given the youth and experience, so we’re excited.” [translated via Google Translate]

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With Norris on a $20 million salary and his teammate Piastri pocketing $2 million out of his contract, Brown would be thanking his lucky stars that he can see potential in a cumulative $22,000,000 invoice for the team.

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While Brown views his driver line-up as a boon, many would argue otherwise.

Lando Norris tipped to ditch McLaren

Safe to say, Zak Brown has put all his eggs into one driver’s basket. And even though he is only 23, Lando Norris is the captain of the ship commanded by him and his teammate. But can Brown relax and drop the onus on Norris to get McLaren back to where they belong? Or will Norris run out of patience first?

According to Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz, “There’s no contract that can’t be got out of and if Lando loses the faith, then it’s absolutely possible he could move. But where would be the team that would come in for him?”

Kravitz then went on to answer his own question, “There have been tentative discussions (with Red Bull), but you also reflect that for a while in the past Zak Brown was advising Lando’s management team and they were very close to each other, so that might be slightly harder to get out of.”

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Is Zak Brown correct in prioritizing his driver lineup over the current state of the MCL60?