I am not surprised at all that Lando Norris is not coming back to the McLaren Hypercar anytime soon. It makes total sense. If you are an F1 star, you have much bigger things to worry about than jumping into a different type of car. You have a championship to win.
The news is pretty clear on this one. According to Sportscar365, there are no immediate plans for the McLaren Formula 1 champion to drive or even test the company’s Hypercar again. He did some work in the MCL-HY at Portimao last month, where he finished 38 laps. But that was a one-time thing for now.
The focus stays on Formula 1
At the Barcelona FIA WEC round, McLaren Endurance Racing team principal James Barclay addressed the situation with reporters. He told Sportscar365 that for now, there are no plans to bring Norris back. He noted that Norris has a very busy schedule and a clear priority on Formula 1. It is just how the business works.
Barclay did say that the team would love to have him back. He also mentioned that “never say never” applies if the schedules ever align. But right now, the F1 seat is the only thing that matters. The team has already signed six drivers for next year. All of those drivers are set to test together at the end of November.
A great test for the car
Even though he isn’t racing the Hypercar next year, his recent test was a huge win for the engineers. In July, Norris piloted the vehicle at the Goodwood Festival of Speed before returning to the Portugal track. Barclay said the F1 champion was right on the pace during the test. He even mentioned that getting feedback from Norris was “really interesting.”
I love the part where the driver got so into the technical talk that he almost missed his flight. Barclay said he actually had to “kick him out the garage to get him on his plane.” That shows me the car is something special. It shows that the car is fast and exciting. Norris even told the team the car was fast and easy to get up to speed.
The Hypercar lineup is looking full without him. Alex Lynn joined the group earlier this week. He joins Mikkel Jensen, Laurens Vanthoor, and others like Leonardo Fornaroli and Gregoire Saucy. While we might miss seeing Norris in the endurance series, his focus is exactly where it needs to be. He has a long career ahead of him, and as Barclay said, he might want to “tick the box” at some point in the future.