By Abhishek Takle
(Reuters) – Lando Norris said his new McLaren deal reflects his faith in the Woking-based squad’s ability to return to championship-winning ways, with the Briton choosing to lock himself in at the former champions until at least 2025 despite signs of interest from rival teams.
“I think the fact that I would have had those opportunities but I still have chosen to stay with McLaren is the good thing about all of this,” the Briton told reporters in a virtual news briefing on Wednesday.
“I did weigh in all the factors for my own benefit and what I think could have come up in the next few years with drivers leaving and so on, but in the end McLaren for me was still the best option.”
The 22-year-old made his Formula One debut with McLaren in 2019 after graduating from a test and reserve driver role.
He impressed last season with four podiums, a pole position and a narrowly missed win after a tyre gamble in changing conditions in Russia backfired.
Mercedes-powered McLaren had already handed him a multi-year contract extension in May last year, which he said would have kept him at Woking until 2023.
But his performances continued to draw interest from rival teams, prompting McLaren and the Briton to commit to a fresh four-year deal for 2022-2025.
Norris, who will be 26 at the end of 2025, declined to name the teams that had approached him.
Team principal Andreas Seidl, who has Australian race winner Daniel Ricciardo contracted alongside Norris until the end of 2023, said the new deal had no “get out” clauses on either side and underlined McLaren’s confidence in Norris’ abilities.
The Briton, he added, was key to putting McLaren back in contention, after the team took their first win since 2012 in Monza last year with Ricciardo leading Norris in a one-two.
“If we look at the overall plan we have in place here … we know that despite the good steps we made in previous years we still have big next steps to make,” said the German, who along with McLaren boss Zak Brown and other senior management, is already locked in for the long-term.
“Having Lando with us and having this consistency and continuity also in the driver line up will be an absolute key in order to achieve these targets.”
(Reporting by Abhishek Takle; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
