Lando Norris will make his debut Formula 1 appearance in the first practice session of Belgian Grand Prix.
The British driver will take over Fernando Alonso’s car for the first session.
Earlier this year, the Brit got a chance to drive the MCL33 during the post-Hungarian Grand Prix test. McLaren is evaluating their reserve driver’s skill level to decide if he should get the race seat next year.
Alonso has announced his retirement from the sport at the end of the season and the Woking outfit confirmed Carlos Sainz as his replacement for 2019. The second seat is still up for grabs.
Norris is the currently fighting George Russell for the F2 title and is raring to start his F1 journey.
The practice run at Spa will help McLaren gather data on Norris’ driving skills.T hey plan to evaluate his ability to handle the car and the pressure of the race weekend.
The Brit may get a chance at driving Stoffel Vandoorne’s car to help compare his performance with that of the Belgian driver.
“This is not only part of his ongoing development but also the evaluation and performance evolution of the car,” said sporting director Gil de Ferran.
“We’ll be taking a strategic view race-by-race at where else this might be beneficial for us over the coming grands prix.
“Spa-Francorchamps has a well-deserved reputation as a racers’ circuit due to its historic significance and popularity among the drivers.”
Vandoorne is under tremendous pressure to perform or lose his seat at McLaren for next season. If he can do well in the practice run against Norris, it could ease his position in the seat race.
If the Woking outfit thinks Norris needs another year and Vandoorne is not up to mark, they may draft Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon.
Ocon may lose his Force India seat next year as Lance Stroll is said to be coming to the Silverstone-based outfit. So Mercedes is looking hard to find a good seat for their junior driver. McLaren would be a great place for him.
