F1 analyst Peter Windsor has questioned Lando Norris' decision to “hurry up and sign” a contract extension with McLaren, with Red Bull and Mercedes potentially close on a deal for 2025.
McLaren announced last month that Norris, who has emerged as one of the standout performers in recent years, had signed a multi-year contract extension, committing his long-term future to the team.
But six days later, the driver market exploded when Lewis Hamilton announced he would leave Mercedes for Ferrari partner Charles Leclerc at the end of 2024, leaving a vacant seat alongside George Russell at the Silver Arrows. .
Should Lando Norris have kept his options open?
Norris was regularly rumored to be Max Verstappen's new team-mate as 34-year-old Sergio Perez enters the final year of his Red Bull contract.
However, with Norris currently remaining at McLaren, reports emerged this week that Williams driver Alex Albon has jumped to the front of the queue for a future Red Bull seat, reportedly on a three-year deal. It is reported that the first option is being presented with a view to
Windsor is appalled at Norris' decision about his future so quickly, despite him becoming a major player in the driver market and potentially attracting interest from all three of the sport's major teams.
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In a recent YouTube stream he said: “No one is talking about this, but why is he rushing to sign such a long-term contract with McLaren now?”
“He didn't have to do that.
“It was clear that McLaren wanted to keep him. [McLaren chief executive] Zac Brown supports him and he's been part of Zac Brown since he returned to F3, so it never went away.
“But there could have been options for Mercedes, Ferrari and maybe Red Bull as well.
“So if you're Lando Norris, you're on everyone's lips as one of the great stars of the future, you're a good guy, you race well, why didn't you keep your options open for at least three or four races?” How many months until Monaco?
“Why sign now? In my opinion, it didn't work out very well for him.
“He has a good contract with McLaren, but he still has Oscar Piastri (he's not slow) in the other car, so there's no chance of him getting a Mercedes drive or a Red Bull drive anymore.”
“It's going to go to Alex Albon. If you were Lando Norris, you'd say, 'There's no question I'm better than Albon. He's going to get the Red Bull driver. ” you are probably thinking.
“I think that's a really weird plan. Zac Brown deserves all the credit for pushing Lando into a deal so early.
“All I can guess is that one of Zack's missions this winter was to sign Lando, and he got him.
“I have to say that if I had been at Lando and followed my manager’s advice, I would not have been very impressed.
“Why did he do it? Why did he go so far? He doesn't know what this year is going to be.
“He probably thinks it's not easy to beat Piastri, he's fast and he's going to get better, and that's all I can think of.
“So maybe one of the ways to counter that is to get this nice long-term deal with McLaren, where he's going to be the number one driver or whatever he wants to be perceived as. “And it will have the effect of calming and weakening Oscar Piastri.”
“That's probably what he was thinking and he didn't think any further in terms of, 'Wow, I could be in a Mercedes, I could be in a Red Bull.'
“Maybe? I don't know.
“Or maybe he just thinks: 'I love McLaren. I love racing for McLaren. I don't want to race for anyone else. They're a mega team. , Golf or anything is fine.''
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