Brown: Norris is ready for Formula 1

It was a miserable and wet morning that greeted Norris when he ventured on track and although the time sheets show he was slowest of all with a time of 1:38.282, eight tenths down on his veteran teammate Fernando Alonso, but the youngster only did nine laps in anger before the track started to dry and others went quicker.

At the end of the first day of practice in Italy, Brown, who missed the Belgian Grand Prix, was back on the gantry at Monza and said of Norris, "He is ready for F1. We have three or four drivers on the shortlist and he is one of them."

"So far, Lando has done an excellent job. He's very fast, just a few tenths off Fernando. He's definitely on the pace and he seems to be quite relaxed."

The McLaren team chief was referencing Norris with Alonso when the pair were running at the same time on track during the session.

"Everything we do with Lando is a bit of test," explained Brown. "He is our test driver. We want to give him a bit of experience. Putting him in for some practice ones is to see how he is getting on."

The Woking outfit have signed Carlos Sainz for next season but the big question is who will partner him as fellow-Spaniard Alonso departs F1 at the end of the season.

In a wacky Silly Season several drivers are reportedly in contention for the seat, among them, of course, Norris as well as Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon and also current driver Vandoorne that, despite his underwhelming season, is still an option for McLaren.

Brown confirmed the contenders, "Vandoorne is very much so [a contender]. Ocon is someone we like. Perez is a good race-car driver. If he's a driver we decide to go after, there are ways to make that happen."