Lando Norris has signed ‘a multi-year agreement’ to extend his stay at McLaren.
Norris has been part of McLaren since 2017 as he rose through their academy ranks from Test Driver to full-time race driver from 2019 season.
Feeling “really pleased” to have signed a contract extension with McLaren beyond next season, Norris admitted that he feels “… very much part of the family here…” and cannot wait to continue his partnership with the team.
Having had McLaren’s support during his time in junior series, Norris feels that he has “… really enjoyed learning and developing as a driver since.”
The 21 year-old however has iterated that he has one ambition with McLaren, commenting; “My commitment to McLaren is clear: my goal is to win races and become Formula 1 World Champion and I want to do that with this team.”
Norris added that he felt that the team has made ‘consistent’ progression since his arrival in 2017 and that their future ambitions together are clear.
Acknowledging the role of the whole team at McLaren in their support over recent seasons, Norris said; “I want to say thank you to Zak and Andreas for the belief they’ve shown in me since the beginning, and to the whole team for giving me such a strong environment to continue my career in.”
McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown is delighted to secure Norris for at least one more season, hailing the Brit as “instrumental” in the team’s return to form and praised Norris for his development throughout his time at the team.
Brown also added that he feels that Norris is one of F1’s “brightest talents” and cannot wait to see him continue to improve on and off track over coming seasons.
McLaren Team Principal, Andreas Seidl meanwhile described this announcement as “very straightforward” following a series of impressive performances across the last two and half seasons which saw Norris claim two podium finishes.
Seidl also noted that Norris is “… an integral part of our performance recovery plan and his record so far, securing two podiums with the team over the past year, has shown he’s a formidable competitor on track.”
On future plans, Seidl confirmed that both McLaren and Norris boast “strong ambitions” heading into next season and beyond, which will see a new set of technical regulations come into force.
Norris will continue to partner Daniel Ricciardo who joined this season on a long-term deal, which Seidl feels excited about moving forward into the future.
Explaining his feelings on what this announcement means for McLaren, Seidl said; “In Lando and Daniel we have a hugely talented and exciting driver line-up, and this announcement is a strong signal of commitment to the next chapter for McLaren from 2022 onwards.”
This weekend will see McLaren sport a retro livery at the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix to celebrate their partnership with Gulf Oil International.
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