Lando Norris has revealed he had other opportunities before signing a new contract to stay at McLaren until at least the end of 2030. Norris, who has won the last two Formula 1 races, has been with McLaren since making his F1 debut in 2019 and says the contract was "probably the easiest contract I've had to sign". The 26-year-old admitted though, in a wide-ranging interview with Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle which will air at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, that there were other options.
"There was opportunity of course. But opportunity that is positive. There's opportunities to gamble at times," he said.
"I'm a driver that personally I would take one or two tougher years over instant success - as I did a few years ago with McLaren. "As much as I want to win every single year, not everything is about I need to be with a team tomorrow that's going to win the next race and do this and do that." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Norris pointed to the "strong" group of people at McLaren, led by team bosses Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, as a key reason to stay at the Woking-based outfit. He added: "A good amount of it is also am I just happy?
I was happy to be with McLaren even when we weren't winning because I'm still in an amazing opportunity and I still get to do the job I love and travel and do all these things. So not everything to me is about ultimate performance. A lot of it and a big part of it is the people that I'm with.
"Just the fact I feel I'm at home and I'm enjoying it. And that almost has enough control as saying 'I need to be with a team that is going to be performing and winning championships'." Norris is currently in great form after claiming pole position and the win at the last two Grands Prix in Hungary and the Netherlands to cut his deficit to championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 83 points. He has another good opportunity this Sunday as Antonelli will start at the back of the field due to grid penalties for exceeding his engine allocation.
But, McLaren will still have the challenge of beating George Russell plus Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who both have upgraded engines. Hamilton and Leclerc will have huge support from the Tifosi at Monza, which features the most iconic podium as it overlooks the main straight and thousands of fans post-race. Brundle pointed out Hamilton had previously stated he would stay at Mercedes before achieving his "dream" of joining Ferrari and asked if Norris would ever consider joining the Scuderia in the future.
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