McLaren aim to secure Lando Norris' confidence amidst future talks

As talks swirl about Norris's future in the sport, Andrea Stella, the team principal, is eager to maintain the young driver's loyalty.

In recent times, Norris has firmly established himself as one of Formula 1's most promising talents. Over the past eight races, he has outperformed Sergio Perez, becoming the second-highest points scorer, trailing only Max Verstappen.

The buzz in the paddock suggests that Norris might be on Red Bull's radar for the future, with team principal Christian Horner admitting to keeping a watchful eye on his performance. Despite this, Norris is contracted with McLaren until the end of the 2025 season.

Norris's fortunes at McLaren have experienced a remarkable turnaround since the team's difficult start to the season. In this period, he has impressively secured four podium finishes, with two of them coming in the last two races.

Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, is determined to convince Norris to stay. He expressed confidence in the ongoing conversations with Norris about his future. "Certainly having conversations with Lando, they are good conversations. We are happy with how these conversations are going," Stella shared with the media.

Stella emphasized the importance of facts and trust-building in these discussions. "In terms of getting the vote of confidence, we went back to the facts. Certainly we expressed our love, if you want, in terms of the human element," he explained. 

"As a team, you want mates to be with you on the journey, especially when the journey is so tough. But you also need to talk about facts, like what's the foundation for the future that can give us your vote of confidence? With Lando, we are doing exactly the same, trying to prove as much as possible on track and trying to create a sense of 'This is going to continue over the coming years'."

Stella acknowledged the challenge of persuading a driver when on-track results don't align with the promises made behind the scenes. "It would be a discomfort myself having a conversation with a driver where I'm trying to persuade him, playing cards that I don't have in my hands," he admitted. "I don't want to find myself in a situation where a driver said 'Hey, you said this would have happened and it's not happening.' I don't want to be in this position."

For McLaren, these conversations are genuine assessments of the facts and their commitment to the driver. They seek not to buy loyalty but to earn it authentically. "So my conversation, Zak's conversation, they are genuine assessments of facts to the best of our knowledge," Stella stated. "We don't need to buy people in; we want people to give us the vote of confidence to stay with us genuinely, truly believing in the journey together with McLaren."

As the Formula 1 season progresses, all eyes are now on the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix, scheduled for the weekend of October 6-8. This event marks the 17th race of the season and will be hosted at the Losail International Circuit, a permanent venue located just outside of Lusail, north of Doha. 

Fans and pundits alike eagerly await this thrilling race to see how Lando Norris and McLaren will perform as they continue their journey together in Formula 1.

 

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