Lando Norris has warned his rivals that his best is yet to come, on the day his McLaren team launched the MCL36 which the young Briton and teammate Daniel Ricciardo will use for the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season.
This is fresh from Norris, with Ferrari and Red Bull allegedly sniffing around, inking a four-year deal with McLaren that will see him bank over $100-million, according to Bloomberg, until at least the end of 2025.
But long before then the 22-year old has his sights on winning.
While still short of Lewis Hamilton's $40-million annual retainer and Mercedes as well as Max Verstappen's big bucks deal that has Red Bull watching the bank balance, Norris' salary puts him among the top five or six earners in the sport and arguably the most marketable.
He has a vibrant and large social media following, streaming his gaming Twitch sessions live while engaging with his fans and providing insights into his life within F1 and outside of it.
Norris: My aim is to carry the positive momentum we built up over the last year
McLaren's impressive launch of their ambitious 2022 multi-faceted global motorsport programme of which F1 remains the crown jewel, gave Norris the opportunity to fire warning shots at his rivals: "I know the best is yet to come.
"My aim is to carry the positive momentum we built up over the last year and take that with me into this exciting new era of Formula 1. Last year was my best in Formula 1 so far, and I'm really proud of what I achieved as a driver, and what we achieved as a team."
However, it still hurts Norris lost an almost certain victory at last year's Russian Grand Prix after a bold tyre gamble in changing weather conditions backfired and dropped him down the field.
Norris recalled what might have been a first win in the top flight: "It´s hard to say how much that still hurts especially with how many people still bring it up. I would love to just get it out of the way and know what that feeling is like to win a race.
"But, at the same time, just got to wait and see and hopefully it´s not too far away," the Briton added.
Norris: We're at that point quite yet to challenge Red Bull and Mercedes
"What we have this year, we have no idea what that's going to be against any other team. But I have strong faith in everyone at McLaren. They're working as hard as possible, doing the best job they can to continue this trend we've been on the last few years.
"Whether that means we jump up a few positions, whether we lose a few positions, that's just the way it is. But that doesn't mean I'll think any less of the team, I'll still have that faith and confidence in year two, year three, year four."
He continued: "That's the higher end and that's when there will be more opportunities for us to achieve more as a team. I have confidence in the team for this year, whether or not we'll be able to win races or world championships is a very [big] question and we'll have to wait and see.
"But we still know that we've got the wind tunnel and other few things we don't have just yet to be able to beat teams like Mercedes and Red Bull who are performing at such a high level.
"It's extremely difficult, and almost impossible unless your so incredible in every other area that you're just making up for not having a good enough wind tunnel. I don't think we're at that point quite yet," ventured Norris.
Last year around Monaco time, McLaren and Norris announced they had agreed a "multi-year" deal which was this week extended for four years - a long time in F1 - but apparently necessary as Norris has gained admiration for his abilities from other big teams.
Seidl: There is a strong belief from both sides
Team boss Andreas Seidl, key in McLaren’s turnaround in F1, said of the long-term deal: “The beauty of this new agreement that we have in place is that there are no get-out clauses on both sides.
“It is an important message that we want to give to the team. It shows that we are in this together and that there is a strong belief from both sides – from our side with Lando’s talent and from Lando’s side that we can actually get there in the next four years," added the German.
Norris is 60 Grand Prix starts into his F1 career with five podiums to his name. With the right ammunition, he has all the hallmarks of a winner, underneath the playful and likeable facade is one of the brightest young talents, in the Verstappen mould, to break into the top flight.
Time will tell if he is worth the cool 100-million he will earn, but you get a feeling it will be dish well spent.
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