While McLaren is convinced he “will be a world champion”, Lando Norris doesn’t expect a chance to win the Formula 1 crown before 2025.
This year marks the Briton’s fifth season on the grid, all of which have been at the Woking-based team, finishing as the top midfield driver in the championship in both 2021 and 2022.
In fact, last year Norris was the only non-Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes driver to finish on the podium, and McLaren CEO Zak Brown is certainly convinced of the 23-year-old’s potential.
“I think he’s got another 10 to 15 years ahead of him,” he told GQ. “I think as long as we can get him a car, he’ll be a world champion.
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“He takes the things that he needs to take seriously, very seriously. But he also knows that we’re in a fun business, racing cars.”
Norris’ problem though is the lack of a front-running car, despite glimpses during 2021, and he admits the wait for that could go on until his current McLaren contract expires in 2025.
“With everything I’ve learned, maybe I could win a race, but I’m unlikely to win a championship until possibly that time,” he also told GQ.
“I know I need to be at the absolute top of my game in those years.”
By then, McLaren will have a new wind tunnel operational at Woking plus other infrastructure upgrades aimed at bringing them up to the standard of the top teams.
And it is the belief in the team’s future potential that gives Brown confidence that Norris won’t be tempted to move elsewhere.
“No, because I’m convinced we’re going to give him a winning car,” he said.
“We have a long-term contract with him. I think he feels very comfortable within the team.
“Other than obviously the pressure we put on ourselves, because we don’t want to just give him a winning car, we want to give us a winning car. So, I think we’ve got a runway to get there.
“He knows the journey we’re on. He has bought into the journey that we’re on, and I think it’d be early to be worried about it.”