Norris signs new long-term deal with McLaren

Lando Norris has committed his long-term Formula One future to McLaren after signing a multi-year deal that takes him beyond his existing contract, which was due to expire at the end of 2025.

Speculation over Norris’ future was rife last year, including links to Red Bull as a possible replacement for Sergio Perez, whose contract is due to expire at the end of this year along with those of several other drivers on the F1 grid.

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.

Asked why he had committed to a new deal two full seasons before his contract was due to expire, he said: “It’s not something I want to worry about over the next few years.

“There’s always been these discussions going on, on our future, and I think it’s a very good time, especially when it’ll be coming to a couple of years when things start to get a bit more crazy with everyone else’s contracts and people potentially moving teams and things like that.

“And just going into 2026, and those years of the new regulations and everything, it’s not something I or the team want to be thinking of, or focusing on, or spending any time on in such an important couple of years. Yeah, simply because I can, I’m comfortable, I’m happy with where I am, the team are happy with me so it’s an easy decision.”

As was the case with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari contract extension that was announced on Thursday, McLaren did not detail the length of the new contract with Norris.

Asked why there were so few details, McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said: “Because it’s our business. Sometimes you discuss it, sometimes 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.”

Talks with Red Bull

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 speaks to everyone, every driver speaks to every team, and it’s not in terms of like everyone’s just sorting out contracts, it’s just what can one team offer you and what can another team offer you and things like that,” the 24-year-old said.

“It’s the same with every driver, everyone speaks to every team, what could we potentially do one day, but nothing ever progresses more than that basically, we shut down quite quickly, and of course you do start to get some of these questions and you see some of it.

“Then you have talks internally with Andrea [Stella, McLaren team principal] and Zak, with whoever at McLaren, then you start talking about your own stuff and you do want to put some of these rumours to bed because it’s not a good [thing] that the team keeps seeing day in day out, so that’s why we’ve come to a decision so early on, and so quickly, hopefully that does put those questions to bed nicely.”

Why did Norris choose McLaren

Norris made his Formula One debut with McLaren in 2019 and has competed in 104 grands prix with the team up until the end of last year. Although he has yet to win a race, a significant performance upgrade at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix yielded seven podiums over the course of the season and saw Norris outscore every driver apart from world champion Verstappen from that race onwards.

Norris said the progress made during the 2023 season had been crucial in his decision and convinced him that McLaren is capable of winning world championships in the future.

“In the back of my head every now and then there was the question of ‘are we improving as much as we should and am I giving myself the best opportunities and so forth?'” Norris said.

“There have always been those little discussions that I’ve had with my [management] team and stuff like that, but with how we turned things around [in 2023] and how Andrea turned things around, and how the whole environment is here currently, that’s a big thing that swings me in the direction of McLaren.

“It is also results led — if we didn’t score podiums and we had it as bad as what we did in 2022, there are going to be even more questions of whether I should wait until ’25 and see what happens. But with how things went and what I believe we have coming, and the confidence that I have in the team over the next two years, and going into a refresh in ’26 when so many things change, really there is not many other things that you can be guaranteed on or assured 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 the McLaren last year which will keep him at the team until the end of 2026.

Source: www.espn.com