McLaren have announced the team’s driver lineup for 2020, confirming Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris will remain in the car for a second season.
The duo are both in their first campaigns with the Woking outfit, but have clearly done enough to impress the decision-makers at the team in the first half of the season ahead of the team’s home race this weekend.
The pair sit 7th and 8th in the drivers standings respectively, with the team sitting fourth in the constructors championship, 20 points ahead of their engine supplier, Renault.
Really happy to announce I’m staying with @McLarenF1 next year! Not so happy about Carlos still being around, but you can’t win them all pic.twitter.com/0cEpVKE8BY
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) July 9, 2019
In a statement on the team’s website, McLaren Racing Team Principal 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.”
CEO Zak Brown added: “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. 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. The reception they’ve received from our fans has been outstanding and they are superb ambassadors for the McLaren brand, personifying our Fearlessly Forward mentality.”
Both drivers have been in the points in the last two races, with Norris holding off Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly in Austria, while Sainz almost caught the Frenchman, despite penalties meaning he started at the back of the grid in Spielberg.