2023 Australian Open semi-finalist Sloane Stephens fangirls over McLaren star Lando Norris after his contract extension announcement

American tennis player Sloane Stephens has expressed her wish to meet McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris.

Sloane Stephens, semi-finalist of the 2023 Australian Open, revealed that if she had a chance to meet a Formula 1 driver, it would be McLaren's Lando Norris. When asked by a fan on Instagram, she replied:

"DEFFFFFFS @LANDONORRIS! He just extended his contract w McLaren today."

This comes after Norris signed a new contract extension with McLaren. His earlier contract, which was signed in 2022, was set to expire at the end of the 2025 season. Given his impressive performance in 2022, there has been an agreement to extend his stay with the team.

Lando Norris made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2019. Currently, he is partnered with Oscar Piastri, who was a rookie in 2023. Both drivers were magnificent during the season and helped McLaren finish fourth in the constructors championship with a total of nine podiums. The team's monumental development was an integral part of this achievement.

"It’s a great feeling to be staying in papaya," F1 quoted Norris.

"I’ve grown up with McLaren and feel at home here, the team are like family to me."

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Lando Norris reveals 'shutting down' offers from other F1 teams prior to McLaren extension

Lando Norris' previous contract would have seen him last with the team till the end of the 2025 F1 season. At the same time, because of the relatively slow progress that McLaren had made in the past couple of seasons, it was expected that Norris would look to join a more competitive team on the grid.

Since 2019, Lando Norris has finished in P2 seven times, and is yet to win a race. The last win for a McLaren driver came back in 2021, with Daniel Ricciardo in Italy. Norris finished in second place in that race.

While it was expected that he might move to other teams, Norris signed another extension with McLaren because of the team's expected development trajectory. Talking about moving to another team, he stated that "everyone speaks to every team."

"It’s the same with every driver, everyone speaks to every team, what could we potentially do one day, but nothing ever progresses more than that basically – we shut [it] down quite quickly."

Lando Norris will partner with Oscar Piastri as his teammate until at least the 2026 F1 season with his contract extension. The team is expected to carry forward their momentum from the earlier season and challenge their challengers better in 2024.