McLaren reveal Lando Norris ‘next priority’ as Red Bull and Mercedes circle

McLaren driver Lando Norris looks contemplative in the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix press conference.
McLaren boss Zak Brown sees extending Lando Norris’s contract as the team’s “next priority” amid potential interest from Red Bull and Mercedes.
Norris has emerged as one of the brightest talents on the grid in recent years and equalled his best-ever F1 result of second on six occasions over the course of the 2023 season.
The British driver is entering the penultimate year of his current contract, with Norris frequently linked with a move to Red Bull to replace Sergio Perez in recent months.
McLaren to act on Lando Norris future
With seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton recently turning 39, eight-time Constructors’ Champions Mercedes may also be in the hunt for a new driver in the future.
Having tied Oscar Piastri to a new deal during the 2023 season, Brown is determined to extend Norris’s stay with McLaren beyond the end of 2025.
According to Speedcafe, Brown said of a new contract for Norris: “I would say [it’s the] next priority.
“There are a lot of priorities, and certainly with Lando we’ve got some time, but he is a driver that everybody up and down the pit lane wants.
“How much longer is Lewis going? What are Mercedes going to do? How much longer has Sergio got?
“For sure, the three other big teams probably don’t have visibility as to their driver line-up beyond ’25. And I think with how Lando has performed, he would be top of everyone’s list.”
Asked if McLaren will move to extend Norris’s deal sooner or later, he said: “Sooner. I think the market is already going.”
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With the team recovering from a slow start to the 2023 season to emerge as the most consistent threat to Red Bull, Brown believes McLaren is the perfect place for Norris ahead of F1’s next major rules reset in 2026.
But he admitted that staying at McLaren would not have been such an attractive option without the team’s mid-2023 revival.
He said: “I think we’re in a great place with Lando.
“I think ’26 is a great opportunity for everyone to reset and there is nothing we don’t have going into ’26 that any of the other teams have.
“He’s very comfortable in the environment, with his team-mate. I think as you go down and look at who can get it done in ’26, there are four or five teams that you can say can get it done and we will be one of those.
“If we would have continued on the path that we were on at the start of [2023], I wouldn’t have wanted to drive here.”
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