Lando Norris asked if he regrets new McLaren contract as move to Mercedes blocked
The McLaren driver has committed his future to the constructor until the end of 2026 after renewing his deal
Lando Norris says champagne celebration can 'go wrong'
Lando Norris has commented on his new deal with McLaren which effectively blocks a move to Mercedes for the young Brit. The 24-year-old attracted the attention of both Red Bull and Mercedes last year after finishing on the podium seven times, but has instead cemented his commitment to McLaren.
With the shock news that Lewis Hamilton will drive for Ferrari from next year the door would have opened at the Silver Arrows for Norris to join George Russell. With Norris’ previous contract running until the end of 2025 there was no pressure on the British star to extend his deal a further year.
Norris has now been asked if he regrets the contract extension after Hamilton’s shock decision. He told RaceFans.net: “I’m very happy. I could have waited, I had the choice. I knew opportunities were potentially coming my way.
“I knew what opportunities I had at the time last year and coming into this year and what could have happened or what is happening over the next couple of years anyway. So no regrets from any side.
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“I’m confident in my team, I’m confident in what we’ve been able to achieve and what we can achieve going into the future and I’m very happy with where I am.” During five seasons with McLaren the British driver has achieved 13 podium finishes, but a victory has yet eluded him.
Woking-based McLaren came closest to challenging Red Bull in the second half of last season with Norris finishing runner-up six times. The British driver believes that Red Bull and Ferrari will have faster cars than him this season as he faces another season chasing Max Verstappen.
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He added: “We had a decent car at the end of last season and I think we’ve definitely taken some steps in the right direction. I think we are still a very long way behind Red Bull and a long way behind Ferrari.
“So there’s plenty of work for us to still try and achieve. But also plenty of things that we’ve learned over the last few days (during testing) for us to implement before next week (when the season begins in Bahrain).”