(Motorsport-Total.com) – The contract extension of Lando Norris at McLaren until the end of 2030 completes a scenario that would have been surprising just a few years ago. Max Verstappen recently extended his collaboration with Red Bull until the same date, while Charles Leclerc is tied to Ferrari until the end of 2028.
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Three of the most important drivers in today’s Formula 1 have decided to stay where they are. Verstappen only competed in 23 Grands Prix for Toro Rosso before being promoted to Red Bull in 2016, but was de facto always in the same family.
A similar story applies to Leclerc, who spent one season at Ferrari customer team Sauber before moving to Maranello. Norris has never even competed in a Grand Prix with colors other than those of McLaren.
When you broaden the view to the junior programs, the connection becomes even clearer: all three drivers have grown within the structures that later led them to the top.
So why should a driver change teams if they are already in a privileged position? That is the question Norris, Verstappen, and Leclerc probably asked themselves before signing their respective extensions.
All three enjoy a very solid status within their teams, know the people they work with perfectly, and know how to navigate structures that have inevitably adapted to their needs over the years.
The contract durations of current Formula 1 drivers
It is what is often called the “comfort zone” – a term that can have a negative connotation, but in Formula 1 represents a value not to be underestimated. A driver has to deal with hundreds of people, but above all, he must build an almost symbiotic relationship with a much smaller group: engineers, technicians, performance engineers, and staff working on the simulator.
It takes years to reach a level of mutual understanding where few words are enough to understand what is going on. Changing teams means throwing this capital overboard and having to start from scratch.
Warning examples from the past
How complicated this transition can be has been shown by two fairly recent cases. Lewis Hamilton struggled with many difficulties in his first year at Ferrari, and Carlos Sainz experienced similar problems after moving from Scuderia to Williams.
This does not mean that a driver cannot adapt to a new environment, but it confirms how long the process can be and, above all, how difficult it is to predict the outcome.
Then there is another aspect that is rarely publicly admitted. Changing teams means having to prove oneself again. Verstappen, Leclerc, and Norris know their weight within their respective structures perfectly. They know what they can demand, know their contacts, and above all have built a very strong technical and political position over the years.
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A move to another place would mean venturing into unknown territory and possibly facing a teammate who is perfectly integrated into the new environment. Is that really a minor detail?
For a driver considered one of the best in the world, the biggest risk is not necessarily ending up behind the wheel of a less competitive car, because there is always the prospect of growth. However, it can be the risk of finding out that the teammate is more competitive in a new environment.
In current Formula 1, a driver’s value is measured every weekend primarily in comparison to the one driving the same car. A team change therefore also carries a reputational risk that someone already in a strong position does not necessarily have to take.
Every change would be an (unnecessary) gamble
In the past, there was often a very strong reason that moved a champion to leave his team: the need to go where the winning car was, or much more tempting financial conditions.
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Senna left McLaren for Williams, Schumacher left world champion Benetton to take on the Ferrari challenge, Alonso moved from Renault to McLaren and later to Ferrari, Hamilton left exactly McLaren to bet on Mercedes.
They were very different decisions, but they had one thing in common: the conviction that there was a better opportunity elsewhere. Today, this certainty is much harder to have.
Formula 1 has entered a phase where technical cycles can change quickly and, above all, it has become very complicated to predict which team will be the reference in two or three seasons. Signing with another team means betting that this car will be better when the time comes to drive it.
Norris is perhaps the most significant example. He waited for McLaren when a win still seemed a very distant goal, and today he is reaping the fruits of that choice. Why should he leave a team now where he has grown and with which he has become a world champion?
A similar consideration applies to Verstappen. Red Bull enabled him a very young debut, promoted him to the main team when he was just 18 years old, and built a winning era with him. Today he is master in his own garden, a place where he can allow himself anything he wants.
Leclerc, in turn, now represents something that goes beyond the simple professional relationship with Ferrari. He came to Maranello as a Driver Academy driver, became the sporting reference of the team, and maintains a connection with the world of Scuderia that also has an emotional component.
Staying today does not mean staying forever
Then there is, of course, the money. All three are paid as top drivers, and that eliminates another of the reasons that historically could have favored a transfer. If a team guarantees competitiveness, centrality in the project, and economic treatment appropriate to the market, it will be difficult to find an offer elsewhere that could justify the risk.
And finally, there is an important element: age. Norris is 26 years old, Verstappen and Leclerc are 28. They are drivers who are still far from the final phase of their careers and are not forced to consider every contract as the last big chance.
Even if they fully honor their current contracts, Verstappen would be 33 years old at the end of 2030 and Norris 31, the same age Leclerc will be at the end of his current contract. There is no lack of time for a possible second part of the career elsewhere.
And perhaps it is precisely this element that makes their decisions even more rational. Staying today does not necessarily mean staying forever. Formula 1 has told the careers of its champions for decades also through their transfers.
Today, the three drivers who represent an important part of the present and future of the category seem to have chosen a different path. Not necessarily because they are less courageous than their predecessors, but because the relationship between risk and benefit has changed.
Norris, Verstappen, and Leclerc already have what a driver usually looks for when deciding to change teams: competitiveness, money, trust, and centrality in the project. Leaving would mean exchanging securities for a promise.
And in today’s Formula 1, a promise is probably no longer enough.