Lando Norris says his new McLaren salary is nowhere near the money paid to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, and he wants to knock down the numbers doing the rounds online since his extension.
The 2025 world champion signed a fresh multi-year deal that keeps him at McLaren until at least the end of 2030, announced by the team on 29 August. Reports have since put his annual wage at around £30m, well short of the far higher figures attributed to Hamilton and Verstappen.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Norris pushed back at the numbers being tossed around.
“I mean, I feel I should earn as much as them, but it is certainly not close to the figures that I’ve been seeing online, sadly!”
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“Of course, it is a bit more [than the last contract], as it is with any job when you kind of extend. But it’s certainly not close to the level of Lewis or Max.”
‘I believe I can fight against them’
Norris framed the gap in competitive terms rather than financial ones.
“Which, in a way, it shouldn’t be, because I’ve not achieved as much as what they’ve achieved in their careers. But in another way, I believe it should be, because I believe I can fight against them whenever I need to, and I can do a better job whenever I need to.”
He left the door open on the next round of talks.
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“I’m working on it. I don’t know when my next extension or renewal will be, but hopefully I can try and match [them] one day. But no, I dream of seeing those figures that I’ve seen online.”
His comments were reported by Crash.net from the Telegraph interview.
The deal, in Norris’s own words
The extension ties Norris to McLaren through the sport’s new regulations cycle. Team principal Andrea Stella told motorsport.com the Briton is now “driving and operating at the level of a world champion”.
On announcement day, Norris kept his statement brief.
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“McLaren is my home, and I’m very pleased to be signing a new contract to keep me with the team until at least 2030.”
Zak Brown said McLaren was “incredibly pleased” to extend the partnership, with the deal reached in time to remove any 2027 uncertainty around the reigning champion.
On track, Norris sits fourth in the 2026 drivers’ standings with 159 points, behind Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
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