McLaren's next Norris takes landmark win with Brown watching

Ugo Ugochukwu, one of McLaren's brightest young racing stars, has secured his first Formula 4 win, with boss Zak Brown there to see it happen.

The 15-year-old American-Nigerian racer has enjoyed a fine start to his rookie British F4 season after making the step up from go-karts over the winter.

Having taken pole position on his debut, the youngster scored a podium at Donington Park as he embarked on a run of results that saw him place higher than any other rookie in five of the first six races.

But now he is a race winner after taking the chequered flag first in the third and final race of the British F4 weekend at Brands Hatch.

Ugochukwu following Norris; Brown watching on

Much like Lando Norris before him, Ugochukwu secured his first win in F4 while racing for Carlin. Norris' path to F1 saw him race with Carlin for four years, including during his season in F2.

Ugochukwu won with McLaren boss Brown watching on from the pit lane, where the 50-year-old took to social media to congratulate his young driver.

It came after Brown named Ugochukwu on a three-man list of racers in the fight for a future McLaren F1 seat, amid uncertainty over Daniel Ricciardo's place. He also named IndyCar stars Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward.

Brown said: "We do like to think long out [into the future], hence why we're doing some testing with Pato, we're going to do some testing with Colton, we've got Ugo in Formula 4 who put it on pole in his first race.

"I don't think you can ever plan too early, but there's no rush."