“This is where I want to win championships”: Why Lando renewed
Behind the scenes of the 24-year-old’s new deal: how and why he committed to McLaren
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When CEO Zak Brown said that tying Lando Norris down to a new contract was his next priority, he wasn’t messing around.
Sat in front of us inside the McLaren Technology Centre, Lando’s straight-faced expression is broken by a grin when he’s asked if he’s ready. Whether that question was referring to the conversation about to take place or the next few years was purposefully ambiguous. Regardless, the answer to both was a clear “Yes.”
It’s been a hectic 24 hours for the 24-year-old, packed full of interviews, photoshoots, and filming. He’s just penned arguably the biggest and most important contract of his career to date, ensuring Zak Brown stayed true to his word that a new deal was of the utmost importance. “He is a driver that everybody up and down the pit-lane wants,” our CEO said only last week.
But he’s ours, and as of Friday, 26 January 2024, he will be for several more seasons, having signed a multi-year contract.
It’s been a hectic 24 hours for the 24-year-old, packed full of interviews, photoshoots, and filming
There have been many priorities at McLaren over the past few years, from our infrastructure upgrades to Andrea Stella’s appointment and our new-look Technical Team, but all of that has been geared towards giving Lando and Oscar the best chance of fighting for podiums, wins, and titles in the long-term.
"I think he's very much enjoying his time at McLaren,” Zak said earlier in January. “The dream is to win races and a world championship together, and I think Lando's all in for achieving that with us."
And Zak was right – he was all in.
“To be honest, it was a very easy, pretty straightforward procedure,” Lando says. Perched on a papaya-coloured chair in front of a 2024 liveried show car, Lando’s relaxed demeanour matches his response. Looking back over the past 24 hours, it’s been busy, but comfortable. He’s at home and his future is secure.
“It wasn't make or break, do we or do we not, it was just, 'Am I happy here? Yes. Do I think the team can win? Yes.’ I wanted to stay here because this is where I want to win, this is where I want to win championships.”
Behind the scenes Lando renews
Although there was no concern from Zak or Team Principal Andrea Stella regarding Lando’s contract, given he had more than two years left to run on the deal he signed in 2022, they remained keen to tie him down for longer on the back of a successful 2023 season.
And even though it ended up being an easy conclusion for Lando to come to, it wasn’t one he took lightly, with the 24-year-old now heading into his sixth F1 season.
“I have got to that point now where I need to make those decisions,” Lando says. “I have got far enough into my career where I need to decide where the best place for me to be is right now to score the best results, to win races, to win Championships. Now is the time in my career that I need to make those decisions.
“That decision was to remain here and remain part of McLaren. It was a big one, it was a big decision for me, but I think it is good for the whole team that they know that I still want to be here with them and to continue my story with them.”
That story began back in 2017, when he signed his very first McLaren contract to become our Test and Simulator Driver. He became a regular visitor at the MTC during his academy days, enjoying a first F1 test in Budapest in 2017, before making his F1 Grand Prix debut in 2018 during FP1 in Belgium.
Lando has signed a muiti-year contract to continue his six-year association with the team
All of this was sowing the seeds of his relationship with the team, which has been key to everything he has already achieved and played a major role in his renewal. He joined on the back of a tough period for McLaren, following several seasons of underperformance, which included two ninth-place finishes in the Constructors’ Championship in three years - the team without a podium since the opening round of the 2014 season.
By the time Lando stepped up to a full-time F1 seat in 2019, the rebuild was already well underway, with sixth in the standings in 2018 - a three-place improvement on the year before - as well as key team members being recruited and promoted.
But there remained an awful lot of work to do and Lando has played a key role in shaping that direction, both on track with his performances and behind the scenes. As his standing within the team grew, so too did his influence.
“From my engineers and mechanics to everyone here at the factory, everything was crucial to me making such a big decision”
Lando Norris
McLaren Formula 1 Driver
Building on that played a crucial part in his decision as he assessed his options – the more competitive the team became and the more he saw our labours bearing fruit, the simpler the choice became. Lando considers the 2023 season to have been both his and the team's best together, with the British racer emerging as the second highest-scoring driver on the grid in the final 14 rounds, including a run of five podiums in the final eight races.
“I think in any partnership, story or career, if you start with people and you go through a lot of hard times together, you want to end it with the same people but with the opposite story - you want to end it on a high and succeed in your ambitions and your goals.”
With key infrastructure upgrades now up and running, a significantly bolstered Technical Team in place, and an increasingly competitive car, his confidence in winning with McLaren grew, and that’s all he’s ever wanted.
Lando and Oscar are both tied down until at least 2026
Winning with this team – his team – would mean more than with any other on the grid. Even during the more difficult days at McLaren, he’s never shied away from stressing that fact to anyone who asked him the question.
His interest may have begun back in the mid-to-late noughties when he grew up watching the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso driving what remains his favourite F1 car, the Chrome-liveried McLaren. But it’s the people he works with - his engineers, mechanics, and the much wider team at the MTC - who cemented his love for papaya and his bond with McLaren.
“It has definitely played a part in terms of wanting to win with McLaren,” Lando explains. “As much as I just want to win the championship and I want to succeed on my own, it is more exciting and there is more of a story behind it if you can win with a group of people that you started something with. To continue to work with Andrea and with my engineers and mechanics is one of the most important things.
“There were two aspects. Firstly, 'Am I having fun and am I enjoying where I am?' And then, 'Do I have a good enough car, good enough people, and good enough surroundings to make the results I really want to happen, happen?’ I think we’ve got that bit and the rest of it is down to me personally. So, 'Am I having fun here and am I enjoying the people who I am working with?’ And I have done since day one.”
It's been several years since Lando first set foot in the MTC and even though he’s matured and grown a lot during that time, the characteristics that first piqued the team’s interest remain deeply embedded within his personality. There was an endearing shyness and boyish charm to him during those early days, but always an underlying confidence in his own ability and a steadfast determination to do whatever it takes within the rules to make this team successful.
Lando's new contract is arguably the most important of his career to date
As he’s grown older, he’s become more assured of himself, alongside an increasingly visible self-awareness. He’s confident enough to tell the team exactly what he thinks, and while he can be sharp, he’s never critical of those around him – accountability is of huge importance to him, but he would never point the finger at anyone.
He expects the same of the team in return and appreciates that they treat him in that way. Lando is his own harshest critic, but that’s because he’s wildly driven to make the most of his doubtless talent - as the car becomes more competitive, the finer the margins between success and failure become.
That everyone is on the same wavelength is a performance differentiator and that type of relationship doesn’t happen overnight, it’s taken years of cultivation. Simply put, why lose that?
“Everyone in McLaren plays a role,” he says. “If we want to be World Champions, everyone in their role needs to be one of the best in the world, if not the best in the world. I think now, more than ever, we have got those people in place.
Lando was the second highest-scoring driver in the final 14 rounds
“Zak and Andrea have played a massive part. They gave me the belief that we have got what it takes - that we could make changes to make sure that we have got what it takes to win races and win championships. They played a very big part in that, but it is everyone. I always want to make sure I have a good team around me.
“From my engineers and mechanics to everyone here at the factory, everything was crucial to me making such a big decision - because it is a big decision. We have had everything in line for a while and everything in place, so in the end, it was pretty straightforward.”
Zak and Andrea have always been confident in their ability to prove to Lando that his future best lay at McLaren and made sure he was aware of that fact. Once it became clear that both sides were keen, they moved to nail down the details of a new deal.
“The conversations have been going on for a while,” Lando recalls. “Mainly, because I was trying to decide what to do with my future, to decide where was best for me to go. There were ongoing discussions during the last year and as time passed, the better we got, and the more and more convinced I was to stay here at McLaren.”
Lando is excited to continue what he started with the team
As the news broke, there was a clear shift of energy around the MTC, just as there was when Oscar’s extension was announced in September. An already buoyant atmosphere was somehow cranked up a notch. With their futures both now clear for the foreseeable, full focus can be put on giving them the very best chance of succeeding in their ultimate ambitions.
“Most of my discussions were with Zak about all of this and he was of course just really happy because I have been on this little journey with him,” Lando says, when recalling the team’s reaction to the extension.
“I joined McLaren shortly after Zak did, so we have kind of been in it together since the beginning - we've been through the highs and lows, and I think for him, it was about knowing that I had the belief in the team that we are able to get to the top.
“It was the same with Andrea and my engineers, and with the whole team. It is just good for them to have that knowledge that I have faith in them and the belief that we can win.”
Brand new Fanwear
The reaction from McLaren supporters has proven to be similarly positive, they were pleased to see the speculation that has surrounded his future in recent times put to bed and are excited to see him repay their faith during the 2024 season and beyond.
“I hope the fans are happy,” Lando smiles. “I think McLaren fans are going to be happy because of that story and because it is me putting my faith in the team, being part of this family that I have been a part of since I joined.
“I am sure some people wanted me to go to other places and to try something different, but it is not about that, it is about where I think is best for myself and the whole team. I am happy, and as long as I am happy, I hope that my fans and supporters are happy. For the McLaren and papaya family, I think it is a good decision and a good result.”