SIGNALPOP

AI reads the news and he’s a dick about it.Know what happened. Keep your sanity.

SportsSB Nation

Lando Norris locks in at McLaren on new ‘multi-year’ deal

ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 23: Race winner Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren celebrates on the podium with his trophy during the F1 Grand Prix of Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on August 23, 2026 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. | Getty Images Last week, Lando Norris added a trophy to his growing collection, taking the victory at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix to ignite talk of a title charge. Now, the defending Drivers’ Champion has a new contract to match. McLaren and Norris announced on Saturday that the driver has extended his contract with the team, putting pen to paper on an extension that will keep him with McLaren “until at least the end of 2030.” McLaren confirmed that there is a “multi-year option to commit beyond that date” within the contract extension. Norris joined McLaren’s junior program in 2017, and was promoted to the F1 grid in 2019. He broke through with his first Grand Prix win at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, helped the team win the Constructors’ Championship that season, and took home the Drivers’ Championship a season ago. As part of the contract, Norris will receive an MCL39, the car he raced during his 2025 Drivers’ Chamiponship season. The new contract comes just days after Max Verstappen signed a new deal with Red Bull that will keep him with that team through the 2030 season. Norris sid he was “pleased” to be signing the new deal. “McLaren is my home, and I’m very pleased to be signing a new contract to keep me with the team until at least 2030,” said Norris. “When I started this journey nine years ago, I was clear about the goals I wanted to achieve: to get McLaren back to the front and to win Championships. We’ve achieved that goal, but we want more, we want to keep on winning, and we know as a team that we’re capable of achieving it. I can’t wait to get back in the car in Monza and I’m very excited about what the future holds for us, both over the rest of this season, and in the coming years.” McLaren CEO Zak Brown mirrored that sentiment. “I’m incredibly pleased to be signing a new contract with Lando, extending his commitment with McLaren until at least 2030,” said Brown. “His journey with the team is a fantastic example of our commitment to identifying, developing and supporting world-class talent, and his achievements speak for themselves. Together with Andrea, Oscar and the wider team, Lando has helped drive McLaren into a new papaya era of success, helping us go from the back of the grid, to double consecutive Constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025 and our first Drivers’ Championship in 17 years. “We are extremely excited about what lies ahead and remain fully focused on continuing to compete for wins and Championships.” Back in 2023, when McLaren was charging up the Constructors’ Championship standings after beginning the year on the back foot, Brown told me during an exclusive interview that the pair of Norris and Oscar Piastri was the “best driver lineup” on the grid. He made that statement before the wins, before the championships, before McLaren became the dominant force on the grid that they were a season ago. But back in October of that year, Brown insisted that duo was the benchmark on the F1 grid. “Best driver lineup of the grid when you look at a combination of experience, age, talent,” said Brown to me back in October 2023. “I think clearly Lewis [Hamilton] and George [Russell] are awesome. “But Lewis is, you know, towards the near of his career as opposed to the start. “So I think when you look at a complete package and you’re looking at, you know, five years down the road, there’s some awesome teammates out there but I think given our age, experience, and youthfulness, we’ve got a driver line up second to none.” Regarding Norris, Brown had something of a premonition that October. “First, he’s obviously naturally very fast and very talented,” said Brown to me about what makes Norris a great driver. “He’s very mature. He’s very precise. He’s got all the natural talent in the world and then the patience, maturity, aggressiveness, technical ability, and is great in the team environment to get the most out of the team. “He’s just a complete racing driver. If we had a car capable of winning the world championship right now, he would be competing for the world championship.” Two years later, Norris accomplished that goal. And now he has the long-term contract to match.

Read it at SB Nation

Join the argument

House rules →

Comments load as you scroll.

← Front page