Lando Norris has hinted in the past at a desire to tackle the Indy 500, and McLaren racing boss Zak Brown “could see that happening”.
Norris is contracted to McLaren until the end of 2025, and the young gun is unlikely to indulge in a one-off at Indianapolis in the next three years as his focus will be exclusively on F1.
However, should Norris remain with the Woking-based outfit beyond 2025, he could be tempted to take a shot at Americas’ blue riband event, with his team’s American affiliate, Arrow McLaren SP, having expressed in the past an interest in racing at the Brickyard.
And his biggest fan for such an endeavor might will be his own boss, a man who was instrumental in the past in taking one Fernando Alonso to Indy.
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“Lando’s mentioned he’d like to do the Indy 500 one day,” Brown said in an interview published on the McLaren website.
“And of course, one of my first days on the job was bringing over Fernando Alonso to do the Indy 500, which was such an awesome experience for everybody.
“So yeah, you know, the calendars are pretty crazy these days, but I think racing drivers like to drive racing cars and, yeah, I could see that happening.”
Under Brown guidance, McLaren has not only branched out into IndyCar, but also into the Extreme E off-road series and into the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
But there’s one more field of expertise that Brown would like to add to his team’s is considering: topflight sportscar racing, a category where he is already present as a co-owner of LMP2 squad United Autosport.
“I’d love to see us at Le Mans in sportscar racing,” Brown said. “We have a lot going on, the stars all need to align, be in the right place at the right time, make sure we’re happy with our existing programmes.
“But if I could wave a magic wand and be in one other racing series, it would be in sportscars.”
Should McLaren, which won Le Mans in 1995 with its iconic F1, ever return to the endurance classic, Norris’ skills would likely also come in handy as he proved in 2018 when the Briton raced in the Daytona 24 Hours with Fernando Alonso in a United Autosports LMP2 Ligier.
Asked if he sees McLaren enjoying a banner year and winning a title in each of the categories in which it races, Brown offered a measured response.
“I’ll start by dreaming that they win each one,” he said.
“I don’t want to get too greedy and say in one year but that would be great. And I think you got to shoot, shoot for the stars and see where you end up when you’re all said and done.”
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Brown could see Norris tackling Indy 500 with McLaren F1i.com.
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