McLaren announce addition of Aston Martin pair alongside Mick Schumacher to F1 reserve driver pool

Formula 1 Testing in Abu Dhabi - Day One
Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the McLaren MCL36 Mercedes on track during Formula 1 testing

McLaren F1 recently announced that they will share Aston Martin's reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich in their pool too.

The British team had previously mentioned that they would use Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher as their reserve driver. Both Aston Martin and McLaren took to social media to give a similarly worded statement about sharing their reserve drivers.

As per Motorsport.com, Aston Martin wrote:

"AMF1 has agreed that McLaren will have access to our reserve drivers, Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne, in the instance that they are required for driving duties for the first 15 races of 2023,"

McLaren will have the option of using all three drivers throughout the season depending on their availability and other F1-related duties with their principal teams.


"I have the patience, at this time, to wait out these years" - McLaren's Lando Norris

Lando Norris said that he has the patience to wait out two more seasons to mount a championship challenge with the British team, as he's contracted with them till 2025.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the young Brit revealed that he wants to grow as much as possible and be ready for a competitive 2025. He said:

"I have the patience, at this time, to wait out these years, and not even wait them out, but to make the most of these two years. I'm happy to do so, to a certain extent. I'm only 23, and I feel like I've got many years still to go, and those two years and potentially 2025 being the year where we can be in that position to really fight for things.

He added:

"At times, it's tough to think because I'm a competitive guy, and I want to win, so of course, at times you think about what you could do to get into that position earlier, but also I'm very comfortable with where I am now, I have good confidence in the team, if I didn't then maybe my mindset would be different. It's a long way away, but we'll see how the progress can be this season, how we can do at the end of the season when we get things in the new wind tunnel and start to get our first idea,"

It's reported that McLaren's new wind tunnel will be operational by the end of the 2023 season, which will come as a huge boost to their championship aspirations.

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Edited by Bhargav
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