Lando Norris explains reasons for extended McLaren stay: "I don't think I'd ever be scared of going against anyone, but even if you enter a team, are you in a position to challenge someone straight away and are comfortable to do that? I think it's a 'no' for any driver."
Monday 29 January 2024 15:51, UK
Lando Norris says continuing "my own story" with improving McLaren, rather than exploring any potential switch to world champions Red Bull, made the best sense for his F1 future and title-winning prospects after he signed a multi-year contract extension.
And Norris, a long-mooted Red Bull target, says "I don't think I'd ever be scared of going against anyone", he believes it is "not a smart move" for any driver to think that heading to Red Bull as team-mate to Max Verstappen - the winner of the last three world titles and 19 of last season's 22 races - was the way to go right now if they wanted to be competitive with the Dutchman immediately in the same car given the way he is embedded at F1's world champions.
McLaren last Friday announced that Norris had extended his contract, which still had two seasons to run, at the team on a new multi-year term into 2026 and beyond in a move that keeps the 24-year-old off F1's driver market for the foreseeable future.
While there would likely have been several suitors monitoring the highly-rated Norris' contract situation, Red Bull have long been viewed as a potential alternative home for him, with team boss Christian Horner previously confirming talks between the two sides on more than one occasion in the past.
Norris confirmed that there had been "little discussions" with rivals ahead of his latest contract extension but that he saw no need for anything to progress beyond that before re-committing to McLaren.
Having raced for McLaren for all his five-year F1 career so far, having first joined their young driver programme as a 17-year-old in 2017, Norris says he saw enough in the team's stunning mid-season turnaround in 2023 to show "we have what it takes to challenge" Red Bull into the future.
"Considering we are talking about the most competitive and successful car in history of Formula 1 over a season - and I think you have to include the driver in that too - how close we got at certain places with where we started the [2023] season, I think was pretty impressive," said Norris in an interview with Sky Sports News.
"To go from out of the points pretty much every single race to being probably the closest team on average to the most successful car that's ever been in Formula 1, I think showed me enough and showed everyone at McLaren here enough that we have what it takes to challenge them.
"Therefore, I want to create my own chapter and my own story of being with McLaren and turning the team around and being part of that journey."
Norris added: "Of course there's always interest and in the back of my mind it's always like 'what would happen if I went here and what could I achieve' and so forth but I'm happy with where I am.
"I am comfortable and I think in order to achieve a world championship you need to be happy and comfortable with where you're at and I don't think you are able to achieve that by suddenly switching to another team and finding that within a year. So that's why I think it's best [to stay where he is]."
Having declared himself "more convinced than ever" that McLaren can provide him with a world title-challenging car over future seasons, Norris did not see a move to F1's current dominant force, Red Bull, as any kind of pre-requisite to achieve his dreams.
Indeed, while Norris says he would have no fear about being team-mate to Verstappen, he nonetheless believes it would be unwise for any driver to think they could find the same level of immediate comfort and competitive performance as the Dutchman if they took up the second seat at Red Bull.
In a detailed answer, Norris, who is friends away from the track with Verstappen, said: "Is Max one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1? Absolutely. I think he's proved that enough.
"He's in a team which he's very comfortable in, a lot of things are built up around him, so for anyone, even a Max of a few years ago, to go in against the Max of now is extremely difficult.
"So I don't think it's a question of 'are you scared or not scared?' I don't think I'd ever be scared of going against anyone, but even if you enter a team are you in a position to challenge someone straight away and are you comfortable to do that? I think it's a 'no' for any driver.
"It takes time to adapt and it takes time to get into place and if you want to go against the best driver in the world it's not the best thing to do. It's not a smart move to do.
"But I would love to race against Max. I've enjoyed some of the battles that we've had and looking even more forward to the battles that we're going to have this year."
Asked if he was hoping to do the same at former champions McLaren as Verstappen did at Red Bull, by staying from a youngster and helping the team eventually get back to title-winning ways, Norris said: "That's the plan!"
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