24/02/2024
NEWS STORY
Lando Norris insists that he has no regrets in having agreed to extend his contract with McLaren, despite the subsequent vacancy at Mercedes.
It wasn't simply social media that went crazy on 1 February, when Ferrari and Mercedes put fans out of their misery and confirmed that Lewis Hamilton was heading to Maranello.
The moment the news became official, indeed as soon as the first genuine signs of speculation emerged, drivers would have been contacting their managers and agents to make the necessary calls.
The Hamilton announcement came days after McLaren announced it had extended its contract with Norris, and while some suggested that the Woking outfit had become aware of the impending news regarding Hamilton and acted swiftly in order to tie Norris down, it is understood the new deal was agreed some time earlier.
Nonetheless, as more and more drivers seek to throw their hats in the ring, Norris insists that he has no regrets in remaining where he is.
"I knew opportunities were potentially coming my way," he said. "I knew what opportunities I had at the time, last year and coming into this year and what could have happened or what is happening over the next couple of years anyway. So, no regrets from any side."
Of course, had the Mercedes vacancy come a year earlier, McLaren having known as early as the launch of the MCL60 that its car was a dog, things might have been different.
However, the subsequent turnaround by the team, not to mention the recruitment of the likes of David Sanchez and Rob Marshall, convinced Norris that he was right to remain with the Woking team.
"I'm confident in my team and confident in what we've been able to achieve and what we can achieve going into the future," he said. "I'm very happy with where I am.
"Of course, I could be happier if we were achieving more of the goals that I think we all want to achieve," he admitted. "But the main point is I'm enjoying my time with the guys that I'm with. For me, that's always a big part of my life, I want to enjoy where I am.
"I think that's an important part of trying to improve as a team at the same time and knowing everyone and pushing everyone. Everyone's capable of getting to the goal of being the top team in Formula 1. So, very happy."
Asked how he feels after testing, and whether the team has continued to make progress, he replied: "Absolutely! Do I think we've made a lot of things better? Yes," he added. "But you never really know in the end of the day where we stand comparing to others.
"I think we're in a good position. We had a decent car at the end of last season and I think we've definitely taken some steps in the right direction, but I think still quite a long way behind Red Bull, sorry, a very long way behind Red Bull and a long way behind Ferrari still.
"So there's plenty of work for us to still try and achieve, but also plenty of things that we've learned over the last few days for us to implement before next week."
Asked about the turnaround of 2023, and in particular this time last year, he said: "I think the issues we've had over the last few years were just lack of preparation and knowledge of certain things. This year I think we've definitely been a lot more prepared in every area so I'm very happy about that and the team have done an excellent job to get everything ready and not have any faults.
"The whole outlook from the team is in a much, much better position," he added. "I think we've definitely come into this season, this test and this year on the right foot for once I don't think we've done that really at all the last three, four years.
"I think we've come in with much more knowledge and expertise and just a much better car to start a season off with. I'm excited and I have been since the very beginning of at least starting the year in a good position and then seeing how we can transform things because I think we obviously did a very good job of that last year.
"The team have done a good job. I'm very happy with what they've done and there are more things to come."
Check out our Testing galleries from Bahrain, here.