World champion Lando Norris explained that his standing within McLaren now gives him the latitude to be assertive and pursue the outcomes he desires, following the signing of a fresh contract extension with the team. The British driver clinched his inaugural title in 2025, becoming the first McLaren driver to win a world championship since Lewis Hamilton achieved the feat for the squad in 2008. After a hard‑fought season‑long duel with teammate Oscar Piastri, Norris not only secured the crown but also cemented his superiority over the Australian during the early stages of the 2026 campaign, further elevating his stature inside the Woking outfit.
The 26‑year‑old’s importance to McLaren’s future was underscored on Saturday when he agreed to a new deal that keeps him at the team until at least the close of the 2030 season, with an additional multi‑year option that could see the partnership extend even further. During an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, Norris reflected on how his role has evolved over the years. He said, "You learn over the years when you should talk, when you shouldn't.
In terms of how much power you have as the driver and as an individual, in the first few years, you're not going to overstep any mark. I'm certainly not going to raise my voice above someone else, kind of thing." He continued, "With time, you learn that my role is not simply just driving the car.
It's also how can I be a leader, how can I lead the team, how can I be a voice for all the people that work here, all the guys and girls? How can I push them to do better, to be better? As well as pushing myself, of course. And how can we all work and do that as a team?" Norris is now entering his eighth season with McLaren, having been handed his Formula 1 debut by the team as a 19‑year‑old in 2019.
His 163 Grand Prix starts set a new team record, surpassing the previous benchmark of 150 set by fellow Brit David Coulthard at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix. He added, "I've just learned the power that I can have and the influence I can have over the direction we work in as a team. Of course, I never want to abuse that, but at the same time, I know that I'm in a position where I can be forceful to try and get what I want, from a car, from the team, from people around me." "And that's a very important thing. You've got to utilise that, I think, as an athlete, no matter what sport you're in.
You've got to know how to try and get what you want as an individual. And I feel like I'm in a very good place right now with the people I have around me, my team, people we have in different positions, team leaders, all of those things, and the work ethic of the whole team, which is really the most important thing at the end of the day." A sluggish start to the 2026 season seemed to jeopardise Norris’s chances of defending his title, but a series of upgrades to the MCL40 turned the tide, enabling him to claim victories in Hungary and the Netherlands. The win at Zandvoort narrowed his gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 83 points with eleven races still to run. Norris currently sits fourth in the standings and must also overtake Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, both of whom trail the Italian by 59 points.
Comparisons have been drawn with last year’s championship battle, when Piastri led Norris by 34 points and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 104 points with nine rounds remaining, before Red Bull’s form dipped. Norris ultimately secured the title by a two‑point margin over Verstappen, while Piastri finished 13 points behind his teammate. When asked whether he could learn anything from Verstappen’s comeback, Norris replied, "Just the fact that it's possible. Just the fact to keep believing, keep working hard, keep motivating the team in all the right ways.
That's the biggest thing. He didn't do anything better than we were doing, apart from the fact we made some mistakes as a team in certain places." Norris, who now enjoys a 55‑point advantage over seventh‑placed Piastri, hinted that McLaren may prioritize his championship bid over his teammate’s for the remainder of the year. He said, "There wasn't anything that we were doing wrong at the time. We just had two drivers fighting for our championship.
They just had one. It's kind of a similar situation to what Mercedes are in now versus where I am. So, there's not a lot, I would say, to take from it, apart from just keep believing that it's possible until it's not.
And that's the attitude we're going to fight with." Looking ahead, Formula 1 heads to Monza for Ferrari’s home race at the Italian Grand Prix on 4‑6 September, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. The event will be streamed via Sky Sports with the NOW platform, offering a contract‑free viewing option that can be cancelled at any time.