LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Lando Norris announced a contract extension with McLaren until at least the end of 2030 on Saturday, and said he would be happy to see out his career with a team that felt like home.
The 26-year-old Briton, winner of the last two races in Hungary and the Netherlands, broke the news to McLaren employees at a friends and family day at the Woking factory.
McLaren said there was also a multi-year option to commit beyond 2030, and Norris had been gifted an MCL39 car from last season when he became the team's first drivers' champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
Speaking earlier to reporters, Norris said the deal came at a perfect time for team morale and motivation, but the figures seen in some media speculation were wide of the mark.
"At the minute there's really no reason to want to even put a thought into somewhere else," he said. "I kind of want my whole career to be with McLaren because I'm happy here and I don't want to change.
"I want to fight with McLaren even when things are not going well and I want to win with McLaren when things are going amazingly well. So yeah, I'll be very, very happy at the end of my career to say that McLaren was the only team I've been with."
Norris made his McLaren F1 debut in 2019, after joining in 2017 as a test and simulator driver, and has now won 13 grands prix with the reigning constructors' champions, as well as 18 poles.
"This extension gives us important continuity and reinforces our confidence in the direction we are taking together," said team principal Andrea Stella. "With him and Oscar (Piastri), we know we can count not only on one of the strongest partnerships but also on one of the most united and close-knit teams in Formula One.”
MORE MONEY BUT NOT AS MUCH AS VERSTAPPEN AND HAMILTON
Some media reports have suggested the new deal would put the Briton third in Formula One's pay rankings, behind only Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Hamilton.
One speculated that Norris's new salary could be around €60 million ($69.6 million) a year.
"I feel like I should earn as much as that," he grinned in response to a mention of what four-time champion Verstappen and seven-time champion Hamilton might be on.
"But it's certainly not close to the figures that I've been seeing online, sadly... of course it's a bit more, as it is with any job when you kind of extend and do those things, but it's certainly not close to the level of Lewis or Max, which in a way it shouldn't be, because I've not achieved as much as what they've achieved in their careers.
"I'm working on it, you know. I don't know when my next extension or renewal would be and hopefully I can thentry and match it one day. I dream of seeing those figures that I've seen online so I'll keep dreaming of them one day."
Norris said there had been some interest from other teams, but none expressed towards them, and it would have felt like a betrayal to go anywhere else.
"Really it was quite the easiest decision I've had to make in my career so far," he said.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Alex Richardson)
