Mclaren breaks down how Lando Norris’s multi-year contract extension boosted the team’s morale

Lando Norris was the first of three drivers to make a significant contract decisions in 2024.

Mclaren breaks down how Lando Norris’s multi-year contract extension boosted the team’s morale

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Zak Brown (Via IMAGO)

Lando Norris had the choice to join any team for 2026, but he chose to stay with McLaren. It has affected the team in a significant way according to Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren. The signing of a multi-year contract by Lando Norris took everyone by surprise. Norris was the most wanted contender in the driver’s market, being the target of Red Bull, his decision to stay with the home team astonished many.

Norris’s contract extension came, a bit early, right before the news of Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025 move. Norris has been with Mclaren ever since his F1 debut in 2019, now he will be with the team for many more years to come. The CEO of the team is very happy, as they have the youngest driver duo under their belt for a couple of years now. While talking about how Norris’s decision to stay with the team affected their base, Zac Brown said:

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(It's a) big build of confidence from our drivers to want to stay with us, especially when Lando, I think, being shortly out of contract could have gone probably anywhere in the pit-lane and chose to stay, because we still have a lot of unfinished business to do. So the team morale is in great, great shape. Pitwall is happy, everyone back at the factory is doing a fantastic job. So we just need to keep our head down, and this is a tough sport. So it's going to take a while to continue to get to the very top but we're looking at everything we've got this year.
Zac Brown said, as reported by racingnews365.com.

As the team gets ready for the new rules in 2026, McLaren has signed contracts with Oscar Piastri that will run until the end of 2026 and with Norris which will be multi-year agreements. Brown is happy that both drivers have confidence in McLaren, as the team is looking forward to the new rules.

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The British racer believes the team has to put in some work, after the Bahrain GP

Lando Norris who has signed a multi-year contract with the team, believes that the team needs to put in some work, to get ahead in the competition. McLaren’s drivers finished P6 and P8 consecutively in the Bahrain GP this year. While it is still better than the start they had in Bahrain in 2023, there is still a lot to cope with.

Lando Norris
Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris who got P6 in the Bahrain GP claimed that the difference between them and Ferrari is a big step, to cover. After making up to that space, there is another big step from there to catch up with Red Bull. According to him Red Bull and their ace Max Verstappen are very dominant as of this moment.

To reduce the gap by as much as they can is very important for the team, to bring the team at least in the top three for the Constructors Championship. While there are many contenders for that, according to the British driver, the team will catch up soon, if they put the work in the right direction.

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