McLaren confirms fate Norris: "He has zero exit clauses"

For McLaren, the 2023 Formula 1 season has not exactly got off to a smooth start. However, should Lando Norris have any doubts about his long-term contract with the Woking-based team, he is in for a cold ride. The 23-year-old Briton knows he will stay in place for now.

After an extremely poor start to the season, McLaren managed to make up a lot in the Australian Grand Prix by staying out of trouble with both Lando Norris and local hero Oscar Piastri scoring their first points of the year. However, that is not to say that this puts the British racing stable out of trouble, as there was a necessary dose of luck involved in the double finish in the points.

Norris cannot leave McLaren for now

Norris has a contract until the end of 2025 at McLaren, but he waved away suggestions about a possible switch. "I can’t really look elsewhere, that doesn’t change," he is quoted as saying by Motorsportweek.com. That is in line with the statement made by Zak Brown, who at Sky Sports argues that there is no escape clause in the young Briton's contract.

"He has zero exit clauses," Brown said firmly. "He has got a contract with us and, most importantly, he is very happy here and he sees the progress that we are making, and he is a team player." However, the McLaren CEO does stress that the team wants to do everything it can to eventually provide Norris with a winning F1 car.

Norris maintains that "any driver on the grid wants to have confidence in his team" and that the disappointing results have done nothing to change his motivation. "I’m motivated every weekend to do the best job I can," the McLaren driver continued.

Norris to Mercedes?

Ever since McLaren's poor start to the season, the rumour mill has been running at full speed. That Norris was linked with a possible seat at Mercedes appears to be news to the driver himself. "Am I? Interesting," he responded when Channel 4 confronted him with the rumour. However, he does not dream of a move to the German racing stable. "No. I'm here, I'm happy where I am," Norris said.