Lando Norris’ long-term contract with McLaren came as a result of interest from rival teams

Lando Norris has signed a new four-year contract with McLaren after being approached by rival teams interested in signing him.

Lando Norris has signed a new contract with McLaren, which will keep him at the Woking-based outfit until the end of 2025. The news comes less than a year after his previous contract extension, which was announced just before the Monaco Grand Prix last year.

The 22-year-old, who finished sixth in 2021 Formula 1 championship, said the deal was part of a “long-term” strategy to win the championship with McLaren.

Rival teams have taken notice of Norris’s increasingly remarkable performances. Even though the 22-year old expected to be in line for Mercedes and Red Bull drives in the future, Norris stated he had “small discussions” with other teams before deciding to pledge his future to McLaren until the end of 2025.

“There were little chats here and there with various other teams, but nothing that went far at all,” Norris said.

“Of course there will be opportunities, I’m sure now for other drivers to do things and maybe go to Red Bull or Mercedes.”

“I’m confident those opportunities would arise in the next few years… The fact I would have had those opportunities, but I’ve still chosen to commit to McLaren… I think that is quite a strong message.”

“It’s where I want to achieve race wins and podiums and championships. I did weigh 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, the current for me was still the best option.”

“It was another opportunity for me to confirm my commitment to the team for them to confirm it with me, and give the whole team the confidence that I’m here to stay and I want to keep trying to achieve things with them.”

The McLaren driver wouldn’t say which organizations approached him, but he did say that numerous elite teams had openings in 2022. He emphasized, though, that staying at McLaren was his top objective, and that any offers from rivals were an invitation to speak with team principal Andreas Seidl.

“As soon as something came up, that’s when I would then continue to go to Andreas and have a little conversation about what our future holds and so on,” Norris continued.
“There was little things, no point lying about it, those little things here and there with various other teams. But nothing went far at all.”