Leclerc and Norris extend deals at Ferrari and Mclaren
Ferrari and Mclaren have renewed the contracts of their respective talismanic Formula 1 drivers Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. But both teams have been notably vague on the finer details. Leclerc has recommitted to Maranello for “several more seasons” to supersede a deal due to expire at the end of this year. Meanwhile, Norris has a new “multi-year” agreement in Woking to replace his existing paperwork that spanned 2022 to 2025.
The two teams secured their services to thwart any Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston Martin advances. Both would be appealing prospects to partner Max Verstappen, even though Daniel Ricciardo is already on the Red Bull books and ready to replace Sergio Perez. Leclerc and Norris were seen as heirs to Lewis Hamilton’s throne at Mercedes should the seven-time champion not stay beyond 2025. And it is known that Aston executives sounded out the interest and availability of Norris and Leclerc as potential successors, or partners, to Fernando Alonso. Links to those three teams will inevitably resume in due course but have been quashed for now.
The case for Norris staying put at Mclaren, which recruited him as a junior driver in 2017 and afforded him an F1 debut two years later, is clear. Team principal Andrea Stella oversaw an overhaul of the technical department that paved the way for major upgrades to transform the MCL60 from an early-2023 backmarker into a car regularly capable of making the Red Bulls sweat. That’s what could be achieved with the existing resources. But Mclaren has since constructed and calibrated its new on-site wind tunnel plus completed coup signings Rob Marshall (long-time Red Bull chief engineering officer) and David Sanchez (Ferrari head of vehicle concept). Both have finished periods of gardening leave and set to work on 1 January.
“In the back of my head every now and then was, ‘Are we improving as much as what I feel like we should, am I giving myself the best opportunities?’” said Norris. “But with how we turned things around, and how Andrea turned things around last year… Now, where am I most confident that I can actually achieve a world championship? If you asked me the beginning of last year, maybe it wouldn’t
have been Mclaren. But now I think
I’m more confident than ever in saying it’s going to be Mclaren.”
Ferrari and Mclaren may be keeping quiet on the exact length of the new contracts because they contain break clauses, so the actual end date isn’t set in stone. Leclerc was rumoured to have signed a five-year deal, split into a fixed three-year term plus an option for another two. At the time of the announcement, team boss Fred Vasseur said: “We know [Leclerc] for his incessant desire to push himself to the limit and we appreciate his extraordinary abilities when it comes to fighting and overtaking in a race. We are determined to give Charles a winning car.”
Keeping schtum may also be part of Ferrari’s protracted negotiations with Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard has stated that he wants a new contract before the start of this season to allow him to enter with a clear head. That’s now only four weeks away. Maranello’s deliberate avoidance in specifying the duration of Leclerc’s new deal is because it’s a sensitive part of its long-term strategy. In other words, a five-year deal confirms Leclerc as the fundamental asset around which the team will build for the next-generation rules cycle starting in 2026. In turn, Sainz
(who is believed to be after a two-year extension) is tacitly confirmed as the number two driver, despite having fared well against Leclerc during their three seasons as team-mates.
That Sainz has done so will allow the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix victor to negotiate better terms. But as talks drag on, there are whispers that Alex Albon is a serious alternative. The Williams racer is believed to be out of contract at the end 2024. If Vasseur does pursue the Thai-brit, Sainz could take Leclerc’s place as part of the Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston rumour mill. And, after his father claimed a
Dakar Rally victory for the manufacturer this month, Audi is another prospect ahead of its 2026 arrival.