Norris details reason behind rejecting McLaren exit chances

Lando Norris has revealed that he had "opportunities" to leave McLaren but opted to stick with the team to win a title together. 

The British driver and Oscar Piastri secured the Woking-based team its first F1 constructors' title since 1998 last season, ending a 26-year wait for the championship. 

Norris is embedded in the McLaren family, having joined the company in 2017 as a simulator and test driver. 

In 2019, he was promoted from Formula 2 to the F1 outfit, where he partnered Williams' Carlos Sainz. 

Since making his F1 debut, Norris and McLaren have been on a rollercoaster ride, which saw the team fall to the very bottom at the start of the 2023 campaign. 

McLaren's remarkable turnaround to become the leading team in the pinnacle of motorsport is the result of staggering hard work and commitment, which Norris feels does not get enough credit.

"Started off with this guy [Sainz] and we made progress, stepped back, made progress, stepped back," Norris said after claiming pole in last year's Abu Dhabi season finale. "Nothing ever clicked, really, and never continued to grow. 

"And it was hard just 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."

Norris rejecting chance to leave

Norris' talent was visible from the moment he made his competitive F1 debut in the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, yet it was not until Miami last year that he claimed a maiden victory. 

Since joining McLaren, he has been partnered by Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and now Piastri, with the Briton having remained committed to the outfit's project. 

According to Norris, he received offers to leave McLaren in recent years, which could have seen him claim a first F1 victory sooner. 

However, he wanted to remain in papaya, to end the team's wait for a title together.

"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," added Norris. 

"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."