LONDON (Reuters) – Lando Norris has inked a contract extension with McLaren to support their Formula One title aspirations, taking the 24-year-old British driver into the sport’s new engine era in 2026 and beyond.
The announcement on Friday also quelled the current “silly season” rumors about Norris potentially moving to Red Bull as a future teammate of triple champion Max Verstappen.
Similar to Ferrari’s announcement regarding Charles Leclerc’s extension, McLaren did not disclose the terms of the deal but confirmed the pairing of Norris and 22-year-old Australian Oscar Piastri until at least the end of 2026.
Notably, Norris’s prior four-year contract, negotiated in February 2022, was set to expire at the end of 2025, and McLaren boss Zak Brown stated that the new contract extends “well beyond” that timeframe.
In response to why he extended his contract before the start of the season, Norris explained, “Because I can. I’m in a good position, it’s not something that I want to really worry about over the next two years.”
“It’s just a very good time, especially when you’re suddenly coming to a couple of years where things start to get a bit more crazy with everyone else’s contracts and people potentially moving teams. And just going into 2026, those years of new regulations and everything, that’s not something I or the team want to be focusing on or spending any time on in such an important couple of years.”
Norris’s debut with McLaren was in 2019, and he expressed that staying with the team was an easy decision. Despite not yet winning a grand prix, the 24-year-old driver has achieved six second places and a third place last year, indicating it’s only a matter of time before his first win.
“It’s a team that I want to just continue my story with in terms of reaching my goal of winning races and winning championships,” said Norris. “I’m very much part of the family and also very much enjoying where I am. That’s obviously a big part of it. I don’t want to join a different team and not enjoy anything.”
“As much as I do want to just be in a team that’s the quickest one, I’m also here because I love racing and I want to have fun and enjoy all of that. Really that’s my number one thing at the end of the day.”
Team principal Andrea Stella compared Norris to past greats he has worked with, stating, “He’s the same kind of world championship material. The underlying talent, the mindset, the work ethos, it’s all ready to go.”
“There’s a characteristic of champions that they only get better. Real champions they seem to improve year by year. And I think that’s the case.”
McLaren, the second most successful team after Ferrari, last won a championship with Lewis Hamilton in 2008 — the first of the Briton’s record-equalling seven.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
