McLaren has confirmed Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris will remain at the team for another year in 2020 after an impressive start to the current season.
Norris, 19, joined McLaren in a development role in 2017 following an impressive start to his junior career. He was promoted to the team ahead of this year and together with Sainz, who joined from Renault on a multi-year deal, has helped McLaren’s surge up the midfield order.
After several difficult years, the team has shown signs of progress since the start of 2019 and is currently a comfortable fourth in the championship.
The team confirmed the news on Monday, ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, via a message on Twitter.
Carlos and Lando announce our 2020 driver line-up in the most Carlos and Lando way possible. 🤝😃
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/CGAVEqqcSa pic.twitter.com/xnK1I37rKz
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 9, 2019
“I’m delighted we’re able to announce our 2020 driver line-up ahead of the team’s home race at the British Grand Prix this weekend,” CEO Zak Brown said.”Both Carlos and Lando are proving themselves as racers and are integral to our path to recovery. They have made a real contribution to the positive momentum and morale within the team, both at the track and back at the factory.”
Team boss Andreas Seidl said: “Today’s announcement provides the team with the continuity to keep pushing forward. The performance of both Carlos and Lando have been a key part of the team’s progress.
“Their feedback has enabled our engineers to develop the MCL34 and look ahead to the MCL35. Carlos has played a key role in developing the car using his experience, while Lando has got up to speed with the demands of Formula 1 incredibly quickly and is growing in confidence every weekend.
“This is welcome news for the whole McLaren team and we look forward to continuing our partnership together.”