McLaren focused on retaining Lando Norris for the long term amidst Red Bull rumors

Lando Norris' contract with McLaren ends in 2025 season.

McLaren focused on retaining Lando Norris for the long term amidst Red Bull rumors

Lando Norris (Credits: F1)

Lando Norris has been on the podium twice now after the Hungarian GP. Taking on the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, the 23-year-old is already establishing his authority on track. McLaren chief Zak Brown has confirmed that the team is working on keeping Norris with them for the long term, whose contract runs out by the end of 2025.

Zak Brown said they are working on keeping Norris by constantly improving their car. While he says that Norris is very much like at home with McLaren, the only way to retain the Briton’s contract is to give him a good race car.

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 “And as long as we can give him a good race car, he loves the environment, he loves the team, he’s been on this journey. Obviously we were all a bit frustrated at the start of the year, but now two seconds on the trot, he’s qualified fifth, second and third. So I think as long as we keep doing that, then he’ll stick around.”, Brown told Sky Sports.

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Retaining a British driver who is capable of winning championships and has enough experience in the premier divisions will be crucial for achieving their former glory. But the major barrier is Norris’s interest from other teams such as reigning champions Red Bull. Many F1 pundits have been advising Norris to leave the Papaya team for a seat alongside Max Verstappen.

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Zak Brown impressed with Oscar Piastri’s development with McLaren

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Oscar Piastri (Credits: motorsports.com)

Alongside his teammate Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri has also been putting on a show on the track. His best finish was P8 in the first nine races of the season. Following McLaren’s dramatic upgrades, the rookie driver finished P4 and P5 in the Britain and Hungarian Grand Prix, respectively.

McLaren chief Zak Brown has expressed how impressed he is with Oscar Piastri. He says that the Australian is very mature for his age. According to Brown, Piastri is constantly analyzing the data on race weekends and is always looking for room to improve.

“He’s very calm. He’s very mature for his age and being a rookie, and he’s a student. He looks at the data, he understands, he asks questions, and then he goes out and applies it the next run, or the next day. Come qualifying, he’s right there. So he’s a very mature driver, who doesn’t kind of worry about the Friday morning lap time,” said Brown.

The McLaren duo stands at eighth (Norris) and eleventh (Piastri) positions in the driver standings. As the season heads to the final race in Belgium before the summer break, it is certain that both drivers will be looking to head into the break with another victory in their hands.  

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