Lando Norris says signing a new contract that will keep him at McLaren until at least the end of 2030 was “quite an easy yes for me”.
The world champion, whose new deal was announced on Saturday, said he “didn’t even have a look” at other teams before deciding to commit his future to the team he has been with since his Formula 1 debut in 2019.
“There was some interest from elsewhere,” Norris said in an interview with BBC Sport, “but I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t want to be with another team. I don’t want to spend time with other people.
“That’s why it really was probably one of the easiest decisions I’ve made since being in Formula 1.”
The Briton had no need to rush his decision to commit to McLaren because his existing contract still had more than a year to run.
But he says the idea “became a topic of conversation over the last four months or so, but very loosely in the background” and he had no hesitation in agreeing.
Norris says his loyalty to McLaren is based on the relationships he has within the team – starting with chief executive officer Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella – and their shared history.
After Norris made his F1 debut in 2019, they spent several years struggling for competitiveness, before their form turned around quickly after Stella was promoted at the end of 2022.
The team won consecutive constructors’ championships in 2024 and 2025 – ending a drought that went back to 1998 – and the drivers’ title for Norris last year.
The 26-year-old said: “The fact I stuck it through with them and then we went on to obviously have success certainly makes me feel like I don’t want to… they didn’t give up on me and I didn’t give up on them.
“That just creates a very strong bond between everyone that works here. I want to believe that bond stays as strong as it is now ’til I do retire in my career at Formula 1.
“I know that’s a long, long way away and I don’t want to think of it. But I believe we’re in the best place we’ve ever been even with a tough start to the season. And I believe that we can fight through anything together for sure.”