Brown believes in new contract with Norris: 'It's been his family'

No doubt to his delight, Lando Norris was able to experience in the races just before the summer break McLaren's capabilities of transforming a mediocre car into a competitive one in a short space of time. CEO Zak Brown hopes that such a development will eventually make Norris want to stay with the team for many years to come.

Of course, it was only a few races, but entering the summer break, McLaren was Red Bull Racing's main challenger, as were Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari earlier in the season. Looking ahead, the fact that McLaren are competing at the front of the grid is extremely important, Brown believes. Talking to ESPN, the American is mainly referring to the contract of Norris, who had a contract with the team until the end of 2025.

According to Brown, McLaren has shown to the British driver that the potential is there: "That being said, we haven't won one with [Norris] yet. He loves McLaren, it's been his family, so there's no doubt in my mind is that his number one choice is to win a world championship with McLaren. I think the best thing we do to retain him is to demonstrate to him we're a team capable of doing that."

The CEO believes that, initially, the amount of salary will not soon be the deciding factor as to whether Norris wants to extend his commitment with McLaren. "It's about giving him a car where he thinks, 'I think I can win a world championship with this team'."

Moreover, there are uncertainties elsewhere, Brown believes: "You look down the grid, there are as many unknowns about '26. Red Bull with a new engine, how's that going to be? They've never done that before. There's all sorts of variables going on there, and I think our story is as good as anyone's."