System 1 | Norris: ‘Good style’ in McLaren F1 made him stay

Lando Norris has explained why he did not consider leaving McLaren F1 despite the team’s problems at the beginning of last year. And finally, the team recovered and he is now on a long-term contract after extending his contract.

“I didn’t even have to think about it, because I still had a contract until 2025” Norris announced.

“So I was in no rush to do anything. And I knew a little bit ahead of time what was going on and what could happen. That’s when things started to improve.”

“So I knew that for a while the potential was there and that this was the biggest step we’ve ever taken. But I didn’t think about it. I didn’t say to myself ‘I’ve got a whole plan ready if things go well, and a whole plan if things go wrong.’

“It was more if the year ended and things weren’t going well, or even a little early, that we would start thinking about it. But I’m not the type to plan in the future.”

“I’m very happy to do what I have to do now and take it one weekend at a time, instead of thinking, ‘Okay, I want to do this to make sure this is ready and I’m not too worried about it. I was happy with how I behaved, so it wasn’t something that I needed to worry about it.

“I wasn’t in a hurry to do anything. But the situation turned around and the success started, and a good trend – a continuing trend – and that’s what made me want to stay longer.”

Hesitating between loyalty and competition

Norris would not be opposed to the idea of ​​spending the rest of his career at McLaren, although he understands drivers looking for a new challenge: “I thought about it. I would never say no, I think it’s still cool. But I’d say the Lewis transfer is cool.”

“That’s all I would say. And I respect it. I thought it was a good change to make. I’m not saying that’s what I’d like, I’m not saying I don’t want to go to Ferrari now, I’m just saying there are some things that are good to do.”

“I’m in Formula 1 because I love racing, not for any other reason. I started because I loved it when I was six or seven years old, not knowing what would happen next. Others. It’s still the same reason today. I do it because I love it. There are rewards all that comes with it now.

“For me, the priority is to enjoy and do what I want, and other things are just bonuses, instead of thinking about other things. But I think this would be a good story if I still stayed at McLaren. I love it, I love my team, I love the people I work with, I am happy.

“But there’s this other part of me that’s also competitive, it wants to win. You have to figure out which one has the highest priority at different times, and know the right time to go from ‘let’s get somewhere, I just want to. enjoy it and have fun’, to ‘I want to win the race now, and I want to take this and I want to commit to it'”.