Lando Norris has revealed he turned down past “opportunities” to leave McLaren as he strives to lead the team to Formula 1 title success in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
McLaren goes into the season finale at the Yas Marina Circuit with a 21-point cushion over Ferrari as the team courts its first Constructors’ Championship since 1998.
Norris strengthened the Woking-based squad’s grasp on the crown as he took his eighth pole position in 2024 to head a McLaren front-row lockout with Oscar Piastri.
McLaren sealing the title would represent a spectacular turnaround, having started last season among the slowest sides on the grid with an underdeveloped package.
McLaren clinching the championship would witness it become the first team since the eponymous Brawn outfit in 2009 to prevail outside either Mercedes or Red Bull.
Norris believes what McLaren is braced to accomplish in usurping the two teams that have dominated F1 in recent times hasn’t been appreciated enough this season.
“The difference for me probably is just being at the team for a longer period,” Norris told media including Motorsport Week.
“Yeah, Oscar’s probably fortunate not to go through those first few years that we’ve had. I mean, there’s some very fun years.
“We didn’t start off great last year, but I had some great times. Started off with this guy [Carlos Sainz] and we made progress, stepped back, made progress, stepped back.
“Nothing ever clicked, really, and never continued to grow.
“It was hard to break that barrier of getting close to Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull, because for such a long period of time, they’ve been the guys who have dominated Formula 1.
“Now, not only have we broken that barrier over the last year and a half, we’ve risen to the top of it and to become the best team and leading and hopefully to go on to win.
“I don’t think, simply from the outside, people would give McLaren and my team enough credit for what they’ve done, what they’ve turned around, because it’s not an easy sport.
“It may look simple at times from the outside and things like that. And even I think sometimes things are more simple than what they look.
“But to go from where we were to outdo… You know, Ferrari have turned things around a lot over the last couple of years and to catch Red Bull, which I’ve said a couple of times,
and Max, who, yeah, one year ago dominated every race. for that to flip around so much, we can only just give a hats off to the whole team, because a lot of things have changed.
“People have come and gone, and Andrea [Stella, McLaren Team Principal] has done an incredible job.”
Norris proud to have remained with McLaren
McLaren’s struggles over previous seasons prompted intense speculation that Norris could elect to leave, with Red Bull known to have held an interest in his services.
Norris, who has been with the side since his F1 debut back in 2019, has expressed pride at having opted to remain devoted to McLaren through the challenging times.
“So to be part of this whole story, to be part of it not long after Zak joined McLaren and started changing things and making McLaren into a slightly more happy place than it was prior, I’ve been along the journey with Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO, and we’ve gone through a lot of things together, highs and lows and emotional times,” the Briton continued.
“So it definitely has been a longer rise to get to where we are, which has been fun and I’ve really loved it and I’ve enjoyed it.
“And I think the thing I’ll be proudest and most happy about is the fact I’m still here. The fact I’m still in papaya because I believed in the team for many years.
“I had opportunities to not be in papaya and to maybe go on and win races at an earlier stage in my career and those kind of things.
“I had those opportunities, but I believed and I wanted to simply do it with McLaren.
“I wanted to do it with the guys who gave me my opportunity in Formula 1. And as much as we didn’t think it was going to be possible this year, we’re hoping for next year.
“And next year was our kind of in-line target, on-paper target. The fact we’re doing it this year is an even bigger achievement.
“Job not done, and Andrea will be happy that I say it, but I’m proud to be on this journey, to have been on it with McLaren for so many years.
“I’ll be very happy when hopefully it’s all finished off.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris: Abu Dhabi pole position a ‘struggle’ for McLaren amid rivals’ resurgence
