Norris: Everyone speaks to every team

The 24-year-old British driver is a hot property after seven podium appearances last year and McLaren wasted no time in signing him up until at least the end of 2026 and probably beyond.

Norris gave plenty of reasons for wanting to stay, including the team's improvement and feeling like part of the family, but he also recognised the announcement so early in the year was also to reassure teammates who might have questioned his loyalty.

On Friday, Norris told reporters of the rumours and speculation that had linked him to rivals: "It’s just what can one team offer you and another team offer you and things like that. It’s the same with every driver.

"Everyone speaks to every team about what could we potentially do one day. But nothing ever progressed more than that. We shut down quite quickly," revealed Norris.

The new season F1 World Championship that starts in March, at the Bahrain Grand Prix, will see no change of seats from the final race of 2023 but a majority of drivers are out of contract at the end of the year. A big 'silly season' of speculation about driver moves is looming, with major rules changes in 2026 and teams seeking stability.

Stability is something McLaren should have that, with Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri now signed up at least to the end of 2026, while Ferrari announced on Thursday a multi-year extension for Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull already have triple F1 champion Max Verstappen signed up to 2028 but Mexican teammate Sergio Perez's place is uncertain after this year. The RB19 was so dominant they won 21 out of 22 races last year.

Norris admitted to sometimes asking himself whether he was in the right place: "Every now and then you've got to have that little question of 'is this the place to be to achieve that goal, that next goal that I want which is to be the world champion? There's always going to be those things and every driver has them."

Norris said he actually enjoyed reading stories from the rumour mill but it was important also to minimize the distractions as McLaren sought to return to the top: "They are now even more assured that I’m committed to the team and staying and that I picked McLaren over Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, whatever team it could have been."

According to Stake F1 betting odds, it is indeed Red Bull's Verstappen outright favourite at 1.20 to win the 2024 F1 World Championship, Norris is second on the odds list at 10.0 ahead of Testing in Bahrain next month.

"It comes back to where will I be happiest and now where am I most confident I can actually achieve a world championship. If you asked me at the beginning of last year maybe it wouldn't have been McLaren. But now I think I'm more confident than ever in saying its going to be McLaren," added Norris.