Drive to Survive shares early-season Lando Norris dilemma about his McLaren future

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McLaren may have secured the long-term future of star driver Lando Norris heading into the 2024 season, but that appeared to be in doubt last year.

Season 6 of Drive to Survive has shared a conversation with the young Brit amid the team’s early struggles last year.

At one point they were bottom of the Constructors’ Championship and Netflix has captured how difficult Norris found their slow start.

Drive to Survive captures Norris conversation about McLaren future

The difference between McLaren at the start of 2023 and the end of the season was seismic.

Zak Brown’s team were the slowest on the grid in Bahrain and unreliability was a huge issue.

Understandably, this raised questions about whether Lando Norris’s future was at McLaren.

His contract ran out at the end of 2025 and other teams were well aware of his talent.

Red Bull are big fans of Norris and with Sergio Perez being outclassed by teammate Max Verstappen, if the opportunity arose, he would likely be on a list of his potential replacements.

Norris himself addressed the idea of moving away from the Woking-based team that he’s spent his entire F1 career with.

Norris admits thinking about other options in F1

Speaking about his position within the team, Norris said: “I guess at times I would love to know what it’s like to be in other people’s positions.

“I think like, ‘Hmm, what would happen if I went here? Or, what if I went there?’ I guess I think of those things, who wouldn’t think of those?”

It then cuts away to a conversation he’s having away from the cameras and he says: “Every driver has conversations with as many people as they can to give themselves options.

“I should be in a better car, but I’m not.”

Back in front of the camera, Norris continued: “It’s rare that you get one driver that sticks with the same team their whole career.”

He’s then asked in an interview: “If you were a betting man, would you say you’d still be there next year?”

Lando shrugs his shoulders, making a point of looking at the camera and says: “No comment.”

It turns out that Norris was very keen to continue with McLaren into the future after an incredible turnaround last season.

Only Verstappen outscored the British driver in the second half of the season and he was regularly on the podium and challenging the Red Bulls.

He signed a new contract in January and McLaren will be relieved he’s done so after Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.

It means if Mercedes want to replace the seven-time world champion with Norris he’ll be an expensive option, while it might put Red Bull making a move for the 24-year-old as well.