By that point, Hamilton will be on the verge of 41, although the British driver has as yet given no firm indication of how long he wants to continue in F1. After the controversial finale that plagued the 2021 campaign, he remains one title away from an unprecedented eight world championships, a factor widely perceived to be behind his motivation to continue.

But the expiration of his current deal coincides with when Norris, 24, is set to be out of contract with McLaren. The Briton signed his current terms two years ago, citing his desire to win a world title with McLaren, who were expected to challenge strongly in F1’s new era of regulations.

However, neither of those notions have materialised. Norris was sixth in the drivers’ standings in 2023, up one place from the previous year, and is still waiting for his first Grand Prix win after 104 race starts.

Norris has long been linked with a future move to Mercedes or Red Bull, and now McLaren CEO Zak Brown has stated his intentions to tie up a new deal imminently: “Yeah, I would say next priority,” said Brown, via the Mirror.

“There are a lot of priorities, and certainly with Lando we’ve got some time, but he is a driver that everybody up and down the pit lane wants. How much longer is Lewis going? What are Mercedes going to do? How much longer has Sergio [Perez] got [at Red Bull]?

“For sure, the three other big teams probably don’t have visibility as to their driver line-up beyond ’25. And I think with how Lando has performed, he would be top of everyone’s list.”

Brown has frequently stated that granting Norris an early release from his current contract, should an offer come in, is not an option. And eam rincipal Andrea Stella believes his man will flourish once he finally is able to stand on the first-placed position on the podium. 

“If we take a look at the numbers from Austria on, Lando is the second highest scorer behind Max [Verstappen)” he said. “This reflects the quality of the driving, the delivery he is capable of, which puts him at the top of the grid.

“The first victory is always the most important, then things come slightly easier. The main reason this has not been possible is because we have not put Lando in the position to consistently compete for a victory. He is ready for that, it’s more about us being ready in delivering the car that allows him to take the opportunities.”