Lando Norris has challenged the current McLaren engineers to prove that the team can win again in Formula 1 without needing to sign design legend Adrian Newey.
Newey has become available on the market from next term following his decision to depart Red Bull after almost two decades spent with the reigning F1 champions.
Ferrari stands as the favourite to attain Newey’s services, but the Briton has been tipped to make a return to McLaren, whom he worked with between 1997 and 2005.
But while Norris admits McLaren would be unwise to turn down the chance to sign F1’s most successful designer, he has pledged his support to its existing personnel.
Asked about the prospect of Newey moving to McLaren and what he could bring to the team, Norris said: “I mean, what would he bring, I have no idea. I wish I knew.
“Anyone who is going to have Adrian on their team is going to, probably going to move forward. And if he’s got a mind like not many others do.
“So it would be an honour I think for any team to have Adrian on their team, especially when he’s achieved as much as he has since he’s been in Formula 1, but also the last five, 10 years. Red Bull have been the most consistent team over the last 10, 15 years. They’ve been more consistent than Mercedes, more consistent than Ferrari, more consistent than anyone almost.
“It would always be a great addition. I think anyone would say welcome. But on the flip side, I think we’re in a very good position now with who we’ve got.
“I’m very happy. I think if you ask Zak [Brown], you ask Andrea [Stella], we’d tell him we’re very happy with the team we’ve got now.
“Same time, we have what, a year where we really want to try and push and catch Red Bull.
“It would be great if we did it without Adrian, just to prove how good of a team we have for the time being. But yeah. If he wants to walk our way, you would definitely never say no.
McLaren Team Principal Stella suggested at the last round in China that the Woking-based squad required another 12 months to be in a position to challenge Red Bull.
Like Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Norris suspects that the Austrian outfit will retain enough strength in depth to prevent a downturn once Newey departs in 12 months’ time.
Questioned on whether McLaren would be easier to catch Red Bull without Newey’s involvement, Norris replied: “Errr… yes, yeah I mean… if everything that is on the Red Bull is down to him, then of course you would say yes. I’m sure Adrian is not the only smart one in Red Bull.
“They’re not just good because they have a good car, they’re good at everything, they’re normally the most reliable car and the best-performing car, best pit stops.
“This is not all down to Adrian. So it’s not like they’re going to lose him and suddenly struggled. They’re still a very good team that are going to continue to perform very well.
“You would hope that some of their little extras they’ve got and some of their smarter stuff that they’ve got, they might not be able to develop as quickly.
“I think we have a lot of very smart people, we’re on the right track, and if we had the team we have now a few years ago, we’d definitely be a lot closer and if not racing Red Bull.”
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