Norris’ new F1 deal explained and why he believes in McLaren

In committing his future to McLaren until the end of 2025, Lando Norris now officially boasts the longest contract in Formula 1. 

The bumper new extension locks Norris in place at McLaren for at least the next four seasons and is a ringing endorsement of the faith and belief both parties have in one another. 

It comes as reward for an outstanding 2021 season in which the 22-year-old scored his first pole position and took four podiums on his way to finishing sixth in the world championship. 

"I'm extremely happy, it's a big part of my career and life ticked off, and to stay in Formula 1 for another four years is pretty amazing from my side," Norris told select media including Crash.net on Wednesday morning. 

"I'm super happy to do it with McLaren as well, the people I've grown up with, the people I've come into Formula 1 with.

"More than anything I would love to continue what we have and continue trying to reach that dream of ours, which is to get back to winning races and of course to get back to winning championships and so on."

Why did he sign another deal so soon? 

The huge new deal marks the second contract Norris has agreed with McLaren in the last nine months, the first of which was announced ahead of last year’s Monaco Grand Prix. 

Norris, who has been part of the McLaren family since 2017, acknowledged it felt “a little bit weird” to sign two contracts in such a short period of time but explained the decision stemmed from wanting to maximise his performances. 

He believes having career stability will be beneficial to both him and the entire team around him, providing extra motivation and strengthened camaraderie. 

“This is more for the solidarity of me and the team and just to really put the confidence in both of us for the long-term,” he said. 

“I see that as a benefit - one for myself, to have this longer contract and stay here for a while, and for the team. I do see it as a performance benefit and motivation benefit for the mechanics, for the engineers and everyone in MTC. 

“If I want to find every bit of performance, then that is included in something like this. It’s not just purely in the race car, there’s other areas as well and this is definitely one of them. 

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

“I think that’s a great thing for the team and that’s why for my own belief I wanted to do it, because I believe it’s a big motivator for them.” 

Who made the first move? 

Both sides simultaneously approached the idea of an enhanced contract renewal. 

McLaren made it clear to Norris that he was key to the team’s recovery programme that has been on a positive upward trajectory since 2019, while Norris expressed his desire to continue. 

Part of McLaren’s new culture places emphasis on the importance of stability on both the driver front and senior management side. Team principal Andreas Seidl confirmed on Wednesday that he and McLaren CEO Zak Brown also have “long-term” commitments that go “hand-in-hand” with Norris’ deal. 

“The beauty of this sport is that we spend so much time together so there’s a permanent dialogue ongoing between us and Lando,” said Seidl. 

“We obviously have a lot of conversations about where we are as a team, about the plans we have in place and during one of these discussions it was also clear that there was an interest from our side but also from Lando’s side in order to commit for the long term. 

“They are conversations that are obviously consistently happening and making steps. In the end, we came to this common view that putting a new four years contract in place is the deal to make in order to have the best shot in order to achieve these common goals.” 

Norris, who revealed his commitment had secured him a pay rise, added: “It’s something that after last year and coming into the future, things we’re always talking about. 

“Of course, every single day I go to Andreas saying I want a better contract! But it’s just something that comes and goes and we talk about - if other things sort of come up and whatever then it’s something we’ll speak about. 

“Sometimes it’ll be me kind of bringing it up to Andreas, sometimes it will be Zak or Andreas bringing it up to me, so it comes from both sides.”

Was there interest from rival teams? 

Norris admitted he chose a long-term deal at McLaren despite attracting interest from rival F1 teams. 

The British youngster’s previous deal was due to run until the end of 2023, the same time that Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s current respective contracts expire at Mercedes at Red Bull.

Norris refused to name the parties who had approached him regarding a future move but insisted the “little chats here and there” in the paddock never amounted to anything concrete. 

After weighing up his options with his management team and family, Norris felt his best chance of achieving his F1 dreams was by staying at McLaren. 

"I think there were opportunities that I think we knew would be coming up in the future with various teams," Norris said.

"This is a very strong message to put out across to everyone, the faith we have in each other, and how strongly I believe that McLaren can recover still and get back to the front in the next few years, even with the opportunities that could arise in the next few years.

“I think that's quite a strong message that this is where I want to be and where I want to achieve race wins, podiums and championships.”

Does the contract include break clauses? 

Given his form and potential, it is no surprise that Norris has emerged as one of the most in-demand drivers on the grid for the coming years. 

McLaren was aware of this and offering Norris such a lucrative deal shows it was keen to move swiftly to tie down its star and ward off interest from rivals.

F1 teams never disclose the full details of driver contracts but Seidl was happy to reveal that Norris’ contract includes “no get-outs on both sides”. 

Norris described his deal as a “heavy commitment” and expects to see out the entirety of his contract at McLaren. He also has no concerns about signing such a long contract despite uncertainty over how the new technical rules introduced this year will impact the competitive order. 

Norris firmly believes McLaren can continue to make further progress, especially with major new infrastructure in the pipeline, including a new state-of-the-art wind tunnel which the team hopes will be operational in late 2022. 

“The logical thing, or the thing a lot of people would think, is to stay with my previous contract - which would have ended next year - when we’re so early in this new era of cars and new regulations," Norris said. 

“I knew there was a chance or an opportunity for other teams to make big steps forward and maybe we go backwards but I don’t think that's something I am worried about. I am confident in the team that we can still have a good season this year and whatever happens this year doesn’t mean we will be struggling for the next five, 10 years. 

"I have belief even if we have a tougher year this year - I don’t think we will and I am confident we won’t - the next two years or three years when we get the wind tunnel up and running, we can make that progress we need and I am confident we can get back towards the front, even more so than what I  hoping for this year.

“There are things here and there like there are in every person’s contract but in terms of my commitment, it’s very high. I am very confident I will be here for the next four years.”