The saga surrounding Lando Norris’ long-term McLaren future could be set for a major twist with team principal Andrea Stella confirming that talks are already underway regarding an extension on his current deal.
Norris is currently under contract until the end of the 2025 season after committing to a long-term deal with the Woking-based outfit, but his impressive and consistent performances have attracted interest from Red Bull, who are eyeballing potential replacements for Sergio Perez.
The Mexican is out of contract at the end of next year and Red Bull bosses have confirmed their interest, although they would need to buy Norris out of his current deal to achieve the coup. McLaren, meanwhile, are desperate to keep hold of the poster boy of their F1 operation.
Confirming the existence of negotiations between the two parties, Stella explained: “They are good conversations. We are happy with how these conversations are going.”
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The McLaren team principal then detailed what the team needs to do to keep hold of their star driver, he continued: “In terms of getting the vote of confidence, we went back to the facts.
“Certainly, we expressed our love, if you want – love in terms of this human element, and also as a team you kind of want mates to be with you in the journey, especially when the journey is so tough. But you also need to talk about facts.
“What’s the foundation for the future, why you can give us your vote of confidence? With Lando we are doing exactly the same, trying to prove as much as possible on track that what we say is realised, and trying to create a sense that this is going to continue over the coming years.
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“I will be at discomfort myself having a conversation with a driver where I’m trying to persuade him, playing cards that I don’t have in my hands. I don’t want to find myself in a situation where a driver said, ‘Hey, you said this would have happened, it’s not happening’. I don’t want to be in this position.”
Norris is following in the footsteps of his team-mate Oscar Piastri, who put pen to paper on a new, three-year contract extension. The Australian rookie has impressed the wider F1 community with his consistent and error-free performances in 2023, and he will now be driving in the papaya colours until the end of 2026 at least.
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