Norris Reveals He Had Other 'Opportunities' When Extending Contract With McLaren
F1Saturday, 16 March 2024 at 15:15
Lando Norris, who extended his contract with McLaren before the 2024 season, asserted he didn't have to do so as there were other "opportunities already to go for."
David Croft from Sky Sports recently asked the 24-year-old driver whether he would like to or could imagine himself driving alongside Max Verstappen.
He jokingly responded that he asked the Dutchman to come to McLaren, but "for some reason, he said 'no.'" He then explained that he sees success with McLaren as better in the long term, even though he could probably achieve more with other teams like Red Bull in the short term.
Norris's goal is apparently to accomplish the same with the Papaya team that the triple World Champion was able to do at Red Bull. The Briton said that was the reason for extending his contract so early and explained further:
"I didn't need to. I didn't need to sign for another two years, so there was no pressure. And it was obvious with so many contracts running out in the next couple of years that things were going to start to get chaotic, and they already have."
The Mercedes (which supplies McLaren with power units) is generally perceived as more likely to succeed in the long term than Norris's team.
Now that Hamilton won't be part of Silver Arrows after the end of the season 2024, the 24-year-old could have had the opportunity to go to Mercedes. However, he is now commited to McLaren.
What's interesting is that Norris hinted he had other opportunities when signing the extension of the contract with his current team, but he didn't give any more details.
The only thing we can assume is that those opportunities he had weren't probably attractive enough to convince the McLaren driver to change his decision. He said:
"I could wait, and there was opportunities already to go for, but I was very happy, and I'm confident in what I've done."
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