Lando Norris believes that McLaren have gained "brains and lap time" with the signing of Rob Marshall from the Red Bull Formula 1 team. With McLaren currently restructuring their team in a bid to progress from the F1 midfield, the Woking team confirmed the signing of Marshall as Technical Director for Engineering and Design. Marshall will begin his McLaren role at the start of the 2024 season, and has now stepped back from his duties at Red Bull with immediate effect.
Marshall has been with Red Bull for 17 years and was an integral part of their car designs across numerous regulation changes. Speaking ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Norris was asked what McLaren had gained by the signing of Marshall. “Just knowledge and expertise,” Norris replied to media, including RacingNews365.com . “He’s been at Red Bull for many, many years. He’s seen a lot of success with the team. He’s been with some of the best minds within Formula 1 and he’s definitely part of that group. “So, brains and lap time I guess are the two big things. He’s a big signing for us as a team, so I think he's someone that a lot of people within McLaren will look up to and respect. “But it's a good step for us as a team to keep driving forward, continuing to add performance and expertise to the whole team in our drive to improve further up the grid.”
Given the pressure facing McLaren after a below-par start to the season, Norris was asked how much belief he had in CEO Zak Brown amid the ongoing changes at the team. “I would say a lot, even more now than in the past," Norris replied. "I guess I would never want to say that I have no belief, and I have never said it, and probably won’t. “Definitely since the last few changes there have been a lot of good things coming from that, both in terms of mood, atmosphere, but at the same time also performance and things to look forward to in the future. “So not everything is purely direct in Formula 1. A lot of things take time, so I guess we have that part of it too. “Definitely things have taken a step forward, so I can easily confirm that and I can say it with confidence, but, until we see it, that’s the timely part.”
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