Lando Norris admits "impatient game" in "back of my mind" - "Do I stick it out?"

Norris along with his McLaren car has come alive as the 2023 season has gone on, as upgrades have seen the Brit able to score consecutive podiums for the first time in his Formula 1 career.

However, the earlier stages of the season weren’t as pretty for the Woking team. An incredibly disappointing start saw both drivers fail to get out of Q1 at one point or another, as rumors of Norris looking elsewhere began to ramp up, despite signing a multi-year deal in 2022. It was even suggested the talented 23-year-old could make a potential teammate for Max Verstappen at Red Bull. 

“In the back of my mind, there’s that impatient game of, ‘do I stick it out for another few years, or is it time to look at something different?’” Norris told Sky. 

“But the more we achieve things like we have done over the past few weeks, the more I’m very confident with the decision I made to stay until 2025, and the more confident I am that we can achieve our goals together in the future.”

Norris reaffirmed his commitment to McLaren when asked if the newfound pace could convince him to stick around with the team: “Of course. I want to win races with McLaren. I want to win in Papaya, I want to win championships.

“I want to achieve my success and I want to achieve my goals with McLaren. That’s been my target since I’ve come here, since I’ve entered Formula 1 with this team.”

Norris joined McLaren as a junior driver in 2017, before being promoted to their F1 seat two years later alongside Carlos Sainz. He wants to repay the favour, suggesting another reason behind his loyalty: “I guess I’m a loyal guy from that point of view, that I’ve joined the team, they gave me a chance in Formula 1 and I want to deliver and achieve success for them.

“And I think it’s a cooler story at the same time, to go from where we were a few years ago, a team that was really struggling, to fighting back and being that first team to really come back from a long way to fight for championships and wins. I think it would be a cool story to look back on in 10, 20 years.”

McLaren’s recent form has seen them join a host of teams vowing to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship behind the unbeatable Red Bull. Norris’ team face strong competition from Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin, all of which have also found the podium multiple times.

When asked if he thinks McLaren can continue at the front, Norris remained confident in his team: “I want to give a straight answer, yes. There’s definitely going to be some races that we’re going to struggle a lot more.

“The same with every team, every year - sometimes they’ll be like, ‘yeah, I’m definitely confident we can do it’, and there’s going to be some where you’re like, ‘this just doesn’t quite suit us enough to confidently be there.’

“And we have two cars, two Red Bulls that basically should be one-two every single race this year. So it’s kind of like fighting for third place and if things happen with one of those two drivers, then maybe you’re fighting for second or first.”