Lando Norris says signing a brand new contract that may maintain him at McLaren till a minimum of the tip of 2030 was “fairly a straightforward sure for me”.
The world champion, whose new deal was introduced on Saturday, mentioned he “did not even take a look” at different groups earlier than deciding to commit his future to the group he has been with since his Components 1 debut in 2019.
“There was some curiosity from elsewhere,” Norris mentioned in an interview with BBC Sport, “however I do not need to go wherever. I do not need to be with one other group. I do not need to spend time with different folks.
“That is why it actually was in all probability one of many best selections I’ve made since being in Components 1.”
The Briton had no must rush his choice to decide to McLaren as a result of his present contract nonetheless had greater than a yr to run.
However he says the thought “turned a subject of dialog during the last 4 months or so, however very loosely within the background” and he had no hesitation in agreeing.
Norris says his loyalty to McLaren relies on the relationships he has throughout the group – beginning with chief government officer Zak Brown and group principal Andrea Stella – and their shared historical past.
After Norris made his F1 debut in 2019, they spent a number of years struggling for competitiveness, earlier than their kind circled rapidly after Stella was promoted on the finish of 2022.
The group gained consecutive constructors’ championships in 2024 and 2025 – ending a drought that went again to 1998 – and the drivers’ title for Norris final yr.
The 26-year-old mentioned: “The actual fact I caught it by means of with them after which we went on to clearly have success actually makes me really feel like I do not need to… they did not surrender on me and I did not surrender on them.
“That simply creates a really sturdy bond between everybody that works right here. I need to consider that bond stays as sturdy as it’s now ’til I do retire in my profession at Components 1.
“I do know that is an extended, great distance away and I do not need to consider it. However I consider we’re in the perfect place we have ever been even with a troublesome begin to the season. And I consider that we are able to struggle by means of something collectively for positive.”
