McLaren chief Zak Brown has labelled Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko’s comments about Lando Norris’ mental strength as “inappropriate”.
Marko said to the German media ahead of last weekend’s United States Grand Prix that Norris has some “mental weaknesses” and that he had “read about some of the rituals he needs to do to perform well on race day”.
Norris is 57 points behind Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship with five rounds remaining in the 2024 F1 season and controversially lost ground to the Dutchman last time out in Austin.
“He [Norris] is as focused as ever,” said Brown in response to Marko’s comments.
“He comes into the race weekends like Oscar and, like I would imagine all the Grand Prix drivers, very focused on the job at hand, sitting down with his engineers, doing his commercial work, his media work, relaxing, so he’s very focused.
“I read Helmut’s comments which I thought were disappointing, but not surprising. Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health.
“Toto [Wolff] has spoken about mental health, so I think it’s a serious issue. We’ve tried to talk about it to bring to the forefront and make it okay to talk about.”
Norris joined McLaren in 2019 as a teenager and has previously revealed he was “depressed a lot of the time” during his rookie season.
The British driver also said earlier this year that he “sometimes doesn’t eat or drink”, such is the pressure of F1.
Brown continued: “To maybe, kind of choose poking at that situation, I think, is pretty inappropriate and kind of sets us back 10, 20 years.
“But, it’s all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective. But I thought that one was in pretty poor taste.”
Brown admits ‘nerves’ in title run-in
McLaren could win the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 1998 as they have a 40-point lead over Red Bull and a 48-point advantage on Ferrari ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Brown has overseen teams in title fights in other motorsport series but is experiencing his first serious championship challenge in F1 with McLaren and is trying to enjoy the added pressure.
“I think it’s probably a mix of both, depending on people’s personalities,” said Brown, who joined McLaren at the end of 2016.
“Mine in particular is one that’s always kind of looking in the rear view mirror a bit nervous, and then there’s other people in life that, you know, it’s the thrill, the pursuit of victory that gets them motivated.
“So it’s probably a healthy dose of a combination of both that gets everyone out of bed every day, highly motivated to continue to just make these small incremental gains.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Mexico City GP schedule
Thursday October 24
9pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday October 25
7pm: Mexico City GP Practice One (session starts at 7.30pm)
9pm: The F1 Show
10.45pm: Mexico City GP Practice Two (session starts at 11pm)*
Saturday October 26
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three (session starts at 6.30pm)
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up*
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying*
Sunday October 27
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP build-up*
8pm: THE MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX*
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event (Race build-up on Sunday from 7.30pm)
Formula 1’s Americas triple header continues this weekend with the Mexico City Grand Prix, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime