JANUARY 11, 2019

Rookie Norris backs changes at McLaren

Lando Norris has backed the changes that McLaren hopes will put the once-great British team back on track in 2019.

Lando Norris has backed the changes that McLaren hopes will put the once-great British team back on track in 2019.

McLaren had a dire season in 2018 but heads into this year with a new driver lineup in the form of Carlos Sainz and the British rookie Norris, the F2 runner-up.

The latest change is the appointment of Andreas Seidl, a top official from Porsche's highly successful Le Mans team.

Seidl will be managing director of the F1 team, which McLaren says is the "latest step in the performance recovery plan and restructure".

19-year-old Norris backs McLaren's restructuring process.

"They are working very hard for next season," he said.

"There is a lot of change in the team to try to progress, but I know it's not going to be easy.

"My whole career I've worked hard but always had good results, so it's going to be my first season where I'm going in and I'm know I'm probably not going to be winning races," Norris added.

But he said he wants a "long career" in F1 and is therefore committed to helping McLaren to recover.

"Hopefully it's a longer game," he said. "The biggest thing I want to be able to do is improve over time and eventually, maybe mid-season, end of season, two years, whatever, see all of this hard work paying off."

(GMM)