You have reached ESPN’s Australian edition. Stay on current site or go to US version.
Lando Norris has committed his long-term Formula 1 career with McLaren after signing a multi-year deal that takes him beyond his current contract, which is set to expire at the end of 2025.
Speculation about Norris’ future has abounded over the past year, adding links to Red Bull as a possible replacement for Sergio Perez, whose contract is set to expire at the end of this year along with those of several other F1 drivers. net.
Norris still had two seasons to run on the contract he signed in 2022, but has now committed his future to McLaren beyond that to include the first seasons of the sport’s next regulation cycle from 2026 onwards.
When asked why he committed to a new contract two full seasons before it expired, he responded: “It’s anything I have to worry about for the next few years.
“There have been discussions about our future, and I think it’s really smart timing, especially when in a few years things start to get a little crazier with everyone else’s contracts and potential people moving groups and things like that.
“And as we get closer to 2026, and those years of new regulations and all that, it’s not something that me or the team should think about, that we should spend time in those two years as a big deal. Yes, just because I can, I’m comfortable, I’m satisfied where I am, the team is satisfied with me, so it’s an easy decision. “
As was the case with Charles Leclerc’s contract extension with Ferrari announced on Thursday, McLaren did not detail the length of Norris’ new contract.
Asked why there were so few details, McLaren chief executive Zak Brown replied: “Because that’s our business. Sometimes you talk about it, but you don’t. “
“Last time when we discussed it, it was a bit more unusual I think typically, just as Ferrari has announced with Charles, you don’t typically give many details, so we see no reason to advertise any details of anyone’s contract.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Norris revealed that preliminary talks had taken place with Red Bull — which has reigning champion Max Verstappen contracted until the end of 2028 and Perez until the end of 2024 — but stressed that such conversations between teams and drivers is entirely normal in Formula One.
“Everyone talks to each and every one, each and every driving force talks to each and every team, and it’s not like each and every one is just settling contracts, it’s simply about what one team can offer you and what some other team can offer you. I can offer you and things like that,” the 24-year-old said.
“It’s the same with each and every driver, each one talks to each team, what we can do one day, but nothing progresses more than that, basically, we avoid it pretty quickly and of course you start doing it. Get some of those questions and you’ll see some of them.
“Then you have internal conversations with Andrea [Stella, McLaren team principal] and Zak, at McLaren, and then you start talking about your own stuff and you need to leave some of those rumours in bed because it’s not like that. something clever. ] that the team continues to see day in and day out, which is why we made a resolution so early and so quickly, I hope it resolves those questions. “
Norris made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren in 2019 and competed in 104 grands prix with the team until the end of last year. Although he has yet to win a race, a significant improvement in functionality at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix resulted in seven podiums. throughout the season and saw Norris outperform all drivers, world champion Verstappen from that race onwards.
Norris said the progress made in the 2023 season was very important in his resolve and convinced him that McLaren is capable of winning world championships in the future.
“Every now and then I would ask myself, ‘Are we improving as much as we are now? Am I giving myself the most productive opportunities, etc. ,'” Norris said.
“There were those little chats I had with my [management] team and things like that, about how we replaced things [in 2023] and how Andrea replaced things, and how the whole environment is there right now. . . , that’s something vital that makes me lean towards McLaren.
“It’s also a question of results: if we don’t get any podiums and we had as bad a scenario as we did in 2022, there will be even more doubts about whether I deserve to wait until 2025 and see what happens. But as things stand, what we’ve gone and what I think we have ahead of us, and the confidence I have in the team over the next few years, and the upgrade. In 26, where so many things are changing, there are actually many other things that you can be guaranteed or rely on. with any team.
“At that same time it comes back to where will I be happiest? And now where am I most confident where I can achieve a world championship. If you had asked me at the beginning of last year, maybe it wouldn’t have been McLaren, but now I think I am more confident than ever in saying it will be McLaren.”
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri signed a new contract with McLaren last year that will keep him with the team until the end of 2026.