Zach Brown: Ricciardo's benchmark validates Norris' capabilities

Zach Brown believes that Lando Norris's large victory over Daniel Ricciardo is proof of the young British talent, if need be.

Ricciardo narrowly beat Norris in the second half of the 2021 season, but Norris' outstanding performance in the game ensured he was 45 points ahead of his more experienced teammates at the end of 2021. Norris won four podiums, while Ricciardo's only podium was a victory at Monza, where Norris beat his teammates 14-8 in qualifying and for a long time in the 2021 season he was ahead of Valteli Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Given Norris' early performances, Brown quickly signed him to a new multi-year contract, and the 22-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best drivers of the season.

Given Ricciardo's talent, the McLaren ceo said Norris gave himself a "validation" of speed as he was competing against eight-place winners.

"Drivers who have won multiple Grand Prix games give you a benchmark and that proves how good Lando is, which is not surprising to us, but you need to verify," Brown said. ”

Ricciardo's just-in-time up in the second half of the year shows that he is approaching his best as time goes on, while the Australian still "fully believes" that he is the best on the track.

Brown believes that if both drivers are fast enough to challenge their opponents, they will both be able to win races and championships in the future.

Brown said: "Our two drivers have the ability to win the Grand Prix, one has already done it and the other will undoubtedly do it. I think what you need is two drivers that you think are capable of being world champions and I'm very confident because we have two drivers like that. ”