Today it was announced Lando Norris has extended his contract with Mclaren. Whilst the full length of the new contract was not completely revealed, Lando Norris will be a McLaren racing driver through at least the end of the 2026 season. Norris claimed the decision to be “an easy one,” stating that he is “very happy here” (at McLaren).
This is a massive extension for McLaren, locking down one of the best drivers in the field. Throughout the course of the previous season, Norris earned 205 World Championship points, achieving a 6th-place finish in the World Championship rankings. These impressive numbers followed a tremendously poor first portion of the season where Norris could only provide McLaren with 12 points through the first 9 races. Receiving new car upgrades in Austria helped Norris to fly through the next portion of the season, earning 193 points in the final 14 races. This was a total bested only by Max Verstappen, the 2023 Drivers’ World Champion.
McLaren’s second-half turnaround in 2023 was cited as a large reason why Norris felt comfortable in extending his contract so soon, rather than waiting for his previous contract to run out in 2025.
This announcement also allows McLaren and Norris to focus on the one thing that matters – wins. With attention being shifted to the upcoming season rather than contract extensions and possible team swaps, Norris and McLaren are now able to move forward with their Drivers’ and Constructor’s Championship goals clearly at the forefront of their minds.
Within the manufacturer, McLaren has also taken significant strides forward. Their technical team has added Rob Marshall, former Red Bull chief, and David Sanchez, a Ferrari engineer, into the organisation. These are hires that McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella believes will be crucial in the upcoming seasons. Marshall will be joining as the Technical Director of Engineering and Design, while Sanchez will take on the role as the Technical Director of Car Concept and Performance. These are two key manufacturing elements that have previously let McLaren down. These changes could be the push that McLaren needs to break into the top of the table as they have done decades prior.
How real is the possibility of a World Championship for either party? Considering what occurred throughout the second half of last season, pretty real. Both the driver and the manufacturer seem up for the challenge, with Norris placing 2nd on six separate occasions in 2023. He is a driver with the ability to beat anybody in the field, it simply comes down to whether or not McLaren can provide a car capable of consistently finishing in the podium places. They are taking tremendous strides towards achieving this, however, giving McLaren fans something to look forward to in the seasons to come.
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