During his previous four seasons in F1 with McLaren, Lando Norris has been partnered with the experienced figures of Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo.
In 2023 however, the 23-year-old will be alongside Australian rookie Oscar Piastri, who has replaced Ricciardo after his contract was terminated a year early.
Norris’ new role as team leader will be very important to McLaren, as the team look to continue on an upwards trajectory over the next couple of seasons to become potential title contenders once again.
The MCL60 was revealed earlier this week and while team CEO Zak Brown does not expect it to be a winning car just yet, he does hope that the team can make more regular appearances on the podium than they managed last year.
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Norris has spoken to Formula 1 at the MCL60 launch to talk about his new role at McLaren, suggesting that Piastri’s contribution will be equally important.
“A different responsibility for myself, guess there’s me leading in some ways because I’m the more experienced driver, the more experienced with McLaren,” he said.
“But that just comes with more responsibility in terms of how I help the team, how I comment and how I go forward from here.
“Apart from that there’s still a lot of things which Oscar and myself will work together on, it’s part of being a team so I look forward to the partnership as well.”
Zak Brown has admitted that McLaren will not judge Piastri against Norris straight away in 2023, as the team understand that the rookie will need time to get to grips with Formula 1.
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They do however expect that with time, the Australian will be able to challenge the current McLaren star, such is the potential of the youngster.
Norris has built strong friendships with his previous two teammates, however it will be interesting to see how the Brit adapts to having to lead the team, rather than learn from a more experienced driver.
Tipped as a future world champion, Norris becoming a team leader may serve as the next natural stepping stone for him on his journey to race wins and potentially championship glory.