McLaren determined to hold on to Norris whatever the cost

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McLaren CEO Zak Brown has stated his intention to hold on to the services of lead driver Lando Norris, even if rival teams come calling with big money offers.

Norris is currently contracted to remain with the team until the end of 2025, but there have been recurring reports that other teams like Red Bull have made their interest in signing in the 24-year-old Briton known.

“He’s quite a valuable racing driver, a great asset to the racing team," Brown said. “There is no number that we would be interested in trading him for.”

According to business magazine Forbes, Norris received $5m in salary from McLaren in 2023, plus an additional $10m in performance bonuses, making him the sixth-highest earner on the grid.

That's still a long way off the man at the top, with Max Verstappen estimated to be earning $70m last season after his dominant performance yielded a third consecutive world championship title.

Read also: Norris still 'learning and improving'

If McLaren has to find more money to keep hold of Norris, Brown is confident that the team finances will be able to find the extra cash.

“The resources we have now are exactly where we need to be," he said. “Resources will not hold us back from achieving anything we need to achieve, drivers included.

“I think he’s very much enjoying his time at McLaren," Brown added. "Certainly he’s hot property, so we’d like to lock him down sooner rather than later."

When Brown was asked by Sky Sports whether Norris would be valued at "one hundred million" if he were a professional footballer he replied: “I don’t know enough about soccer to know what the economics are!"

After a poor start last season, upgrades from Austria onwards saw the team take off and emerge as arguably the second best car on the grid after Red Bull in the closing stages.

Norris claimed seven podiums in total including a run of five within six consecutive Grand Prix races, while his team mate Oscar Piastri emerged triumphant in the Qatar sprint race.

“The dream is to win races and a world championship together and I think Lando is all-in for achieving that with us,' Brown said.

Brown noted that both drivers were a key element of their hopes for more success this year.

“I think we’ve got the best driver line-up in Formula 1," he said. “Building blocks? You need the world’s two greatest Grand Prix drivers.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.