Many similarities can be made between Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.
Both are in their mid-20s, both are deemed future World Champions and now both have committed their long-term future to their respective teams.
But if Leclerc’s selection was considered a bet, Norris’s selection was a simple bet.
“I was surprised when he signed a long-term deal,” Button said on Sky Sports.
“Because in this game you don’t know who’s in front and you have to be in a winning car. Your skill is enough to bring a car to the forefront.
“You know, you can help them develop, but you need to be in a competitive car that can win races and McLaren haven’t given them that.”
But, apart from Max Verstappen and Red Bull, there has been no greater praise for religion than the one McLaren gave to Norris.
The upgraded MCL60 was poles apart from the car that first rolled out in Bahrain. Backmarkers had become podium contenders and in it, Norris drove to his most successful season yet.
Although that first win still eludes him, a checkpoint that will surely be reached in 2024, Norris’ performances put him firmly at the top of the driver market with Red Bull reportedly keen to bring him over to partner his friend Verstappen.
But within the walls of their Woking base, the McLaren team allegedly told Norris exactly what they had planned.
Structurally, the McLaren team is very different today than it was at this time last year. James Key’s role as technical director has been split into three with the hiring of two workers from Red Bull and Ferrari. The wind tunnel is no longer many miles away in Cologne, it is still present at the MTC and Oscar Piastri is no longer an inexperienced amateur.
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Looking at the available evidence, it’s enough to recommend that McLaren will be P2 next year and may even try its luck with the dominant Red Bull, so Norris’ resolve to make it bigger will have been a lot less difficult now. than in the past. Array
Norris’ commitment to McLaren is Leclerc’s commitment to Ferrari. They are both the faces of his team and have grown up with them, which makes it very difficult to keep them apart.
But while Leclerc never really looked like leaving, reports around Norris would suggest there is no smoke without fire. The Red Bull move would have been tempting – a chance to drive the quickest car on the grid, a chance to drive with Verstappen and a chance to get some silverware under his belt.
But there were also disadvantages. Great driving forces shape the team around them. Look at Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and now Verstappen at Red Bull. A driver as clever as Norris would have subsidized himself to beat the Dutchman, but he would also have had to settle for the odds being stacked against him.
At McLaren it is different. Norris is the star of the team and for the last few years has been performing above what was expected of him. He saw off Daniel Ricciardo with relative ease and even if Piastri provided a tougher competition, Norris ended the season 108 points ahead.
Norris has time on his side and the potential to mould the McLaren team around him and could do what no driver since Hamilton has done, bring titles back to the MTC.
It is rare a driver is presented with an opportunity to achieve legendary status within a team like McLaren. Senna, Prost, Lauda, Hamilton. Norris now has the car and the team he needs to add his name to McLaren’s elite.
Read more: Four reasons why McLaren seems to be in a position to take the fight to Red Bull