Breaking: Lando Norris signs contract extension with McLaren

Lando Norris has extended his contract with McLaren and will race with the team for the next three F1 seasons at least.

Norris debuted with McLaren in 2019 and has been racing impressively since. Earlier in 2022, his contract was extended for another four years which was set to expire at the end of the 2025 season. With this multi-year extension, however, it has been revealed that he will be staying for at least the next three seasons.

2023 turned out to be Lando Norris' most competitive season in Formula 1 so far since his debut with seven podiums. Six of them were P2 finishes, which has remained his best race position so far. He finished sixth in the championship, bringing McLaren up to fourth.

"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. The journey so far has been exciting, we’ve had ups and downs, but last season showed our desire to get back to competing at the front of the grid."

Lando Norris will continue to race with his teammate Oscar Piastri until at least 2026. The latter was a rookie in the earlier season but had a very impressive finish. So far, he has had one of the best seasons as a rookie driver behind Lewis Hamilton's performance in 2007, who, coincidentally, also debuted with McLaren.

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Lando Norris expects to win with McLaren in the future

As mentioned, 2023 was a very competitive year for McLaren, especially with their late progress. In 2022, the Woking-based outfit finished the championship in fifth place with 159 points. There was only one podium throughout the entire length of the season.

On the contrary, the 2023 season ended on a high note with a total of nine podiums from both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. In the end, they were in fourth place with 302 points in their bag. Owing to this progress, Norris stated that he is hopeful to win with the team in the coming future.

"The work Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO], Andrea [Stella, McLaren Team Principal] and the whole team have put in over the last year has been incredible and I’m confident in challenging for wins with McLaren," Norris said (via F1).

"I’m excited to create more amazing memories and continue working hard with everyone at MTC for the next few years," he added.

Despite the development that McLaren depicted during the second half of the past season, they were still not challenging enough to win. On multiple occasions, Norris raced in second place while Max Verstappen drifted apart every single lap in the dominating RB19.

Heading into the 2024 season, the team is expected to carry forward the momentum they had built in the earlier season and challenge their competitors on the grid.