McLaren chief executive officer Zak Brown revealed that Lando Norris' "confidence is very high" ahead of the 2026 Formula One season.

Norris won his maiden Drivers' Championship last year, beating Max Verstappen and team-mate Oscar Piastri to the title in the final race of the campaign at Abu Dhabi.

Attention has now turned to the 2026 season, with the second round of testing in Bahrain approaching as teams get accustomed to the new regulations, which are set to bring some new challenges on the track.

McLaren launched their new car for the year, with the hopes that they can win a third consecutive Constructors' Championship.

Brown believes that both Norris and Piastri will challenge for the drivers' title again, with the former eager for more silverware.

Brown said: "There are some drivers that say, 'I've done it, now I'm done.'

"And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go, I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three and four times.

"Lando's confidence is very high. He's highly motivated. It's our job to give he and Oscar equipment again to be able to let him fight it out for the championship. But if we can do that, I would think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shout."

Reunited #McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/D2DncdBF1T

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team  (@McLarenF1) February 9, 2026

There were controversial moments last season between the two McLaren drivers, with some believing the team's strategies favoured Norris over Piastri at key moments.

Piastri voiced his frustration over the team radio after being forced to let Norris overtake him during a race, which the Australian felt was unfair.

Brown insisted that the two drivers will be allowed to openly race each other again, with no new 'Papaya Rules' coming in for 2026.

"They continue to be free to race," added Brown.

"Again, we will be strategic and intelligent when situations arise. There won't be much change because they were free to race last year."