So it's a huge gamble on McLaren, and while they had a decent season this was in the context of Mercedes and Ferrari essentially having a gap-year between their failed 2022 cars and revised 2024 concepts. In addition, McLaren have only won a single Grand Prix in over a decade, don't have an exclusive relation with their engine manufacturer (assuming Mercedes keeps their own team long-term, which is perhaps not 100% certain given they already sold a majority share in it to others), and has a leadership that seems keen on doing a lot of different things and series at the same time. This can work, but McLaren definitely has a few added challenges compared to other teams.

But there doesn't seem to be any interest for Norris from Mercedes, Ferrari, or Red Bull. So this seems like the best for both at this time. Also for McLaren, who have a pretty good young line-up in Norris and Piastri. That said; Norris does have to win a race soon. After over 100 GP it's not a good reputation to keep missing your chances.

That's my take on it too, pretty much.
I think he wants his first win with McLaren. Once he's got a few wins under his belt, he might be looking elsewhere, but he might also want to pull McLaren back to the top. They have been the top F1 team before. I don't see why they couldn't do it again.

The drivers that tend to be remembered are those that manage to win races in cars that are not perceived as the top car. I think Norris might be thinking along those lines.

Just a hunch.

For '26, the regulations will be such that it'll be hard to get it very wrong. That's likely also why staying with a team you're happy with and, the other way round, staying with a driver you're happy with, makes a lot of sense.

The odds that Audi comes up with a car that's a top contender in their first season are rather slim. They may be close, with those rules, but I don't expect them to be that close. Also because converting the Sauber team into consistent winners won't happen overnight. You seem to have a lot of faith in Audi but nothing to back it up with.

The works teams, as you call them, are? Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault (call them Alpine if you like)? We'll not even talk about Renault, Ferrari has a long long history of messing up for themselves, and Mercedes have yet to get the ground effect sorted.
You name AM, but I don't consider AM/Honda to be a works team. Then there's RB/RBPT/Ford which might have been an option for Norris maybe, but would he feel at home at that team, and get the same status? Also, with McLaren, there's still a chance he makes it to a definite no.1 status, although Piastri seems to do very well too.

I don't think the choice odd, but with all those long term contracts, things do seem to all get a bit lame. But then that's my general concern with F1 anyway.

I can hear Ron Dennis complaining "you don't get to win as a customer".

Maybe he should have waited a year - he may have had a shot at Mercedes if George has a bad year. And he wouldn't have to deal with with a customer engine which assures no championships (although RBR managed to do it).

He really didn't have many options. I don't think he would want RBR and vice-versa because Max is there and he's not a number 2 driver. Lando would be his rear gunner.

Ferrari might dump Carlos for him but they are their own worst enemy and chances of a championship with them would be slim. And he would be up against LeClerc.

So McLaren seems to be his best bet but he is going to be under pressure from Piastri who is fast. Piastri is an Alpha - I don't see that in Lando. It may have appeared Zak made a genius move picking up Piastri but he may ruin Lando in the end.

Another HAM/ALO in the making. Two young drivers of the same caliber doesn't work, at least for long. Makes for an interesting season.

I thought he would take up the challenge and fight Verstappen, but alas.

Leclerc is locked with Ferrari, and at this point I am convinced that driving for Ferrari is more important to him than winning. Red Bull had everything ready for Lando in 2025 and given their success these regulations so far, one would assume they would still have a competitive car for next year as well. I believe Lando must be getting paid a bucketload (in addition to already more than 20m a year if I remember correctly) and it is obviously easier with Oscar as a teammate than Max.

Why? He's the established number 1 at a team he likes and can perform well with… It would be different if he was constantly stuck around the bottom of the top 10, but his stock as a driver is doing nothing but rise with McLaren thanks to the performance he can put in with them.

A move would be a massive career risk and he's seen first hand how dangerous that can be thanks to Ricciardo.

If or when he does make a move, it makes sense for it to be a "sure thing" established championship contender that will pay a premium to improve their driver stock, not taking a one in 6 gamble on who might get the new regulations right (even assuming your "non-works can't win" theory is correct.)

Looking forward to Bahrain Qualifying all ready.