Lando Norris makes crucial admission as McLaren fight off Red Bull interest

Jamie Woodhouse
McLaren driver Lando Norris with the mic on the couch in the driver press conference.

Lando Norris calls for harsher penalties for impeding.

Lando Norris said he would “love” to extend his commitment to McLaren amid mounting speculation of a move to Red Bull.

诺里斯已经建立了himself as one of the hottest driver properties in Formula 1, his current McLaren deal keeping him with the team until the end of 2025.

For some time Norris’ decision to sign with McLaren long-term was seen as debatable, but now that the team are delivering on their promise of progression in emphatic fashion, can they keep the Brit on board?

Lando Norris wants to stay at McLaren

一个极其efficient string of upgrades for the McLaren MCL60 has seen the team surge from battling to score points to contending for regular podiums, with Norris having now scored four P2 finishes in F1 2023.

Red Bull remain the dominant force though and both team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko have admitted to monitoring Norris as a potential future Red Bull driver, triggering McLaren intotalks to secure Norris’ future.

And it seems their chances of keeping him are very strong, Norris reemphasising his ambition to become World Champion with McLaren.

PlanetF1.com建议

F1 driver contracts: What is the current contract status of every driver on the 2023 grid?

Zak Brown car collection: The legendary machines owned by the McLaren boss

“There are always things every now and then. I would love to [talk about a new McLaren deal],” he said, as per RacingNews365.com. “I’ve always said I want to win with McLaren.

“I think we’re getting closer and closer to achieving that. And not just to win races, but win championships, both Driver and Constructor. I want to do it with McLaren. I’m very happy there.

“So if I was to spend 10 or 15 years there I’m not going to ever say no. I think that’s something I would look forward to. But I’m very much just concentrated on this year, next year and ’25.

“I think that’s two-and-a-half years to try and progress and we’ll see then. But things [come up] every now and then but nothing more than that.”

The F1 driver market is expected to truly kick into gear over the next couple of seasons, as the racers try to best position themselves for success when the new era of challengers and power units come into play from F1 2026.

McLaren are yet to confirm whether they will retain Mercedes power from F1 2026, while Red Bull are to launch the first Red Bull Powertrains unit in collaboration with Ford from that season.

Read next:McLaren boss names rival team he ‘suspects will jump back strongly’ in 2024