IF A SCRIPTWRITER wasevertaskedwithdistillingtheFormula1 career of Lando Norris into a conventional story arc, this year and last would surely dominate and drive Act Two. It feels that now is the point in the plot where the lead protagonist begins to acknowledge an internal conflict and must soon make some life-altering decisions. In the case of the Brit, the main issue that needs resolving is this: for how long should he remain at McLaren?
This is the team that gave Norris a promotion to the top flight for 2019 and has provided him with the platform and support required to refine his world-class talent ever since. So much so that he is now rightly considered among the championship elite. By way of a mutual show of faith and thanks, in the second of two quickfire extensions, Norris signed a new deal 11 months ago that will provisionally keep him at Woking until the end of 2025. But that expiry date will come round soon enough. In the meantime, the Oscar Piastri contract saga plus Mattia Binotto being cornered into handing in his notice at Ferrari have served to greatly devalue paddock loyalty and supposedly binding paperwork.
Therefore, if Norris is to stay put, it will be because McLaren is the best option available to him. But the case in favour of continuing in papaya has taken a couple of recent and sizeable blows. The team took its first major misstep on the path back to the top with a troubled ground-effects challenger in the form of the MCL36. Fifth in the 2022 constructors’ championship, and a sole podium for Norris at Imola, was not good enough to feed his appetite for success. Norris might well sit among F1’s top drawer, but so far he’s been infrequently able to battle his pre-eminent peers
