McLaren chief executive on Lando Norris: "He's OK. A bit traumatised as you'd expect, he's explained it to me, it wasn't a very nice experience, but he's healthy and he'll be fine"
Wednesday 14 July 2021 12:42, UK
McLaren chief Zak Brown has described the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy at Wembley as "not a well-executed event" after his driver Lando Norris had his watch stolen after the game.
Brown said that Norris had been shaken by the incident after Sunday's match but "he's healthy and he'll be fine" ahead of the driver's home British GP this weekend.
The McLaren CEO was also in attendance at Wembley and told Sky Sports News he had spoken regularly with his 21-year-old driver since Sunday night.
"Spoke with him about it a lot," said Brown to Craig Slater at an event on Tuesday evening in London.
"I've been mugged three times actually, in Los Angeles when I was younger, so I shared my story. It's easy to feel responsible when you're the victim, if that makes sense, you've got a nice watch on. The reality is he did everything he was supposed to do.
"Got some bad people in the world. That was not a well-executed event, I went, and that just wasn't acceptable behaviour.
"So that's going to need to be fixed because you shouldn't ever feel in danger going to a big sporting event, you'd never see that in Formula 1.
"But he's OK. A bit traumatised as you'd expect, he's explained it to me, it wasn't a very nice experience, but he's healthy and he'll be fine."
UEFA has launched a disciplinary investigation into the actions of fans in and around Wembley at Sunday night's European Championship final, which Italy won on penalties.
Norris, who told Sky Sports on Monday before news of the incident emerged that the final had been the first football match he had attended, thanked fans for their well-wishes in a post on Instagram on Tuesday.
"Thanks for all the messages everyone," Norris wrote. "Really means a lot to see so many messages of kindness and love from you all.
"Thought I'd let you know that I'm doing well and trying to make sure I'm ready and in the right zone for this weekend to perform at my best.
"Love you all and can't wait to see so many of you back at the track this weekend."
The British GP starts on Friday with Silverstone, who ran two races behind closed doors last summer due to Covid-19, welcoming a capacity crowd back to the venue with the event running under the Government's Event Research Programme.
