The current project at McLaren is an exciting one, as the team have an exciting young driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and are potentially only months away from have a brand-new wind tunnel facility operational.
CEO of McLaren Racing Zak Brown has recently admitted that it could take until 2025 for the team to see the full effects of their new facilities and become title challengers, a timeline which luckily for McLaren, Lando Norris seems comfortable with.
The Brit is currently tied down to a long-term contract with the team, but rumours have begun to circulate that Norris could make a move to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull in the future, having held talks with the team in the past.
The 23-year-old has now admitted that while he is more than happy to stick with McLaren and be a part of their long-term project, it was not just Red Bull that he spoke to before deciding to extend his stay with his current employers.
READ: Max Verstappen admits Cashgate penalty ‘will affect us’
“First of all, the talks which I said I had with Red Bull are very general. Every driver is trying to talk with every team. Not always though,” he told Motorsport.com.
“That’s why I signed such a long contract, so I don’t need to care about any of this for a while.
“But when you’re coming to the end of a contract, you always want to have talks with as many people as you can to weigh up your options and know what might be a better path for you.
READ: Breaking: FIA blocked solution to US racer joining AlphaTauri in 2023
“So, it wasn’t solely with Red Bull. It was different talks with different people. ‘What could happen now? What could happen maybe in the future?’ Everyone has those talks.”
McLaren will be hoping that their project runs on schedule, as there will clearly be no shortage of suitors should Norris decide to pursue his title dreams elsewhere.
The Brit’s current contract will run until the end of the 2025 season, leaving fans to believe that he could rethink his position with the team at the end of that season, potentially moving to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull if it would provide him with a better shot at title glory.