McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown knows there is plenty of interest from reigning champions Red Bull over signing Lando Norris to partner him up with Max Verstappen. The American CEO reiterated just how much Red Bull will need to pay to prize away his key asset, claiming that not even a £100million price-tag will justify the value Norris brings to the team.
In Norris and Oscar Piastri, McLaren has a formidable driver partnership heading into the upcoming season. While the team started rather poorly last year, they were arguably the second-fastest on the grid when the year ended, leading to plenty of optimism in the camp.
The way in which Piastri has taken to the pinnacle of motorsport is a huge plus point for the Papaya-Orange. The Australian rookie was able to claim a win in the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix to cap off an impressive first season.
This made Piastri the rookie of the year and along with Norris, who collected more than double his points in the regular season, the duo can expect even better things this term if McLaren gets its design right.
Red Bull has been a long-term admirer of Norris’ talents and are reportedly keen on signing the British driver once Sergio Perez’ contract comes to an end later this year.
However, Brown reiterated that it won’t happen under his watch, with no figure big enough to tempt them to allow Norris to leave.
“I don’t know enough about soccer to know what the economics are!” Brown said when asked if Norris was worth £100 million.
“He’s quite a valuable racing driver, a great asset to the racing team.
“While everyone has a price, there is no number that we would be interested in trading him for.”
“The resources we have now are exactly where we need to be,” he added regarding the team’s budget to offer Norris a lucrative enough financial deal to keep him at McLaren.
“Resources will not hold us back from achieving anything we need to achieve, drivers included.”