Lando Norris says he's looking forward to working alongside his future McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri next season, insisting it will be a new challenge for himself and the team.
After several weeks of uncertainty and intrigue, the FIA's Contract Recognition Board confirmed that Alpine did not have a contractual right to Piastri's services for 2023, a decision that allowed McLaren to publicly confirm on Friday the Aussie's nomination as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement for next season.
After working for a couple of seasons alongside Carlos Sainz and Ricciardo, both of which were more experienced than Norris, the Briton will have an absolute beginner sitting on the other side of the McLaren garage for the first time in his F1 career, making him the Woking-based outfit's genuine team leader.
"I don’t think it’s a big change honestly," Norris told Sky F1 on Saturday. "I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, I’m confident, I’m happy in the place I am.
“I look forward to working with someone new, it’s always different, you have to talk in different ways and understand each other differently.
"It’s also going to be a big challenge for me, and a new challenge for me and the whole team. We look forward to it.
"I don’t actually know Oscar too well, I’ve only spoken to him twice ever, I would say. But he’s obviously a good talent, a good driver and I look forward to that, but that’s still half a year away."
Norris said the announcement of Ricciardo's future departure had not adversely impacted the atmosphere within McLaren or his personal relationship with his teammate.
"I think it’s still great, even from Daniel’s side you know," he said.
"From what I’ve seen in my whole life, you understand when people are putting in an effort and when people don’t care.
©McLaren
"You can see how much Daniel tries to understand it all and put the time and effort into going quicker and so on.
"It's the same, everyone’s still motivated, Daniel’s probably still motivated as ever to end on a high and end on a good run with the team.
“That’s what you want to do as a driver, you want to prove yourself. It’s still good, the mechanics are loving it, the team is energised.
"It’s tough, when you’re battling for P10 and P12, it’s not what you want. But there are still these glimpses of ‘this is where we can be if we do some little things better’.
"I’m confident in the future we can do that."
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