Norris made his F1 debut for McLaren in 2019 and has cemented his position at the heart of the team’s future thanks to his impressive performances over the past four seasons.
McLaren earlier this year offered him a long-term contract that ends in 2025, something that is understood as an act of faith by the team in its driver.
Norris feels the long-term deal takes “all the pressure off” him by ensuring he doesn’t have to “be thinking about the future” and also makes him “look ahead” in relation to improvements at the Woking factory.
“It’s not that things weren’t right now,” Norris said in an interview with Motorsport.com before the summer break, “but the new wind tunnel and other projects that we have in the team that are shaping up and hopefully perform better in 2024 and 2025 makes me look forward to that time.
“It’s not that it’s going to make us win directly, but I want to convince myself that it’s going to help us move in that direction.
“There are very good things that we are doing as a team that I see that we do better sometimes than the best teams. It’s just that sometimes you don’t have the car that can show it.
“I am happy. I also feel that I have made a good decision staying here for the long term. I am enjoying it and that for me is the most important thing.
“Every year, I’m excited to see what the future brings us because it makes me more and more optimistic about where we can end up in a few years.”
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Norris was open about his struggle with mental health in his early days in F1 and his doubts about his abilities and his place on the grid.
But as he continues his successes on the track, he has gained interest in certain off-road activities such as the creation of his games and clothing brand, Quadrant.
Norris commented that this feeling of being “a little more established in F1, makes a big difference” in having a better balance between his personal and professional life, which makes him “happier on the track, but also off the track.” her with my personal life.
“Now I feel more comfortable,” he admitted, “I feel like I’m performing really well, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I’m more comfortable on the track.
“But I’m also being able to live a good life and I can relax when I’m out of Formula 1, and not just be thinking ‘what do I have to do next time, because I’ve done shitty work’ or whatever, which is a little what he did a few years ago.
“You just think ‘why did I do poorly here? why am I not good enough in this position?’ and constantly think about it. You don’t see that you can relax.
“As I now see that I have F1, I’m doing everything I can, efficiently, to do the best job possible but at the same time, I can have a life outside of my job.
