3 reasons why Lando Norris should stay at McLaren

Lando Norris has not been one of the more cheerful characters in the 2023 F1 season. The McLaren driver has seen his team produce a car that is below par judging by the team's standards and expectations. Because of that, much has been said when it comes to the future of the Lando Norris-McLaren partnership.

Speaking about the partnership, McLaren boss Zak Brown recently said that the contract has no exit clause, and hence Lando Norris is not going anywhere. Having said that, it's hard not to consider a contract as a mere piece of paper that tends to not hold any relevance if the parties are motivated enough to part ways.

That said, let's look at the reasons that could persuade him to stick around for some time.

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#1 There are no viable options available

When we talk about placing Lando Norris anywhere but McLaren, one has to ask what the alternatives are. Red Bull will not hire another Alpha to challenge Max Verstappen in the team. Ferrari already have Charles Leclerc within the team. Even if the relationship is on shaky grounds, Leclerc is still a more favorable option.

Similarly, Mercedes have the duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Finally, we have Aston Martin with Fernando Alonso. So in terms of options for Norris, there aren't any.

Even if we look at a prospective move to Alpine or Sauber, wouldn't it make sense to wait another year to see what the growth trajectory is for those teams? There isn't much available in terms of viable options for Norris to jump in and grab a hold of.

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#2 McLaren is built around Lando Norris

What's important for Lando Norris to understand at this stage is the fact that McLaren, as a team, is built around him. The Woking-based squad has invested in the young driver and looks at him as a future star that could guide the team to the front.

What is quite evident at this stage is the fact that Norris has kept up his end of the deal. More often than not, he's dragging every last ounce of performance from that car and bringing results.

While McLaren itself has been unable to do so, the team is still in that consolidation phase. David Sanchez has entered the fray at McLaren and has been responsible for building impressive Ferraris over the years.

Having a team primarily focused on building what's best for you is arguably something that helped Michael Schumacher achieve greatness at Ferrari. Lando Norris has built that environment for himself at McLaren after years of toil. At this stage, with not many viable options, it's worth keeping a hold of that.

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#3 The field has started to bunch up - drivers will play a bigger role

Finally, arguably the most important chain reaction of the new regulations is the fact that the field is starting to bunch up. Sure, if we look at Red Bull and its impressive advantage over the rest of the grid, it's demoralizing. But if we take a look behind that, we see how close the field has gotten.

Aston Martin is now a legitimate frontrunner, with Fernando Alonso leading the race for some time in Saudi Arabia. Not only that, we've had Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes bunched up close to each other while Alpine is also not that far behind.

In fact, the race in Australia showed just how impressive Alpine was as Pierre Gasly spent a chunk of his race within a second of Carlos Sainz. To add to this, Guenther Steiner's infamous quote that there are no backmarkers in F1 anymore holds true as well. From P6 to P10, it's up to the drivers.

Slowly but steadily, with the restrictive nature of regulations, the field is bound to get ever closer and when it does, driver skill is going to take over. That is one area where a driver like Lando Norris with a team like McLaren can truly shine.

Sure, McLaren might not have the fastest car in F1 anytime soon, but if the team is able to get closer to the frontrunners, it gives Lando Norris the opportunity to show what he can do.