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Lando Norris made the correct decision in signing a new contract with McLaren, according to Express Sport readers. The 24-year-old committed to a new long-term deal in January amid

speculation linking him with reigning champions Red Bull and perennial frontrunners Mercedes. Norris was already contracted with McLaren until the end of the 2025 season but with the team

making considerable progress with their development at the end of the 2023 campaign, the Bristol-born driver made the decision to commit his long-term future to the Woking-based outfit. This

decision was an intriguing one for many members of the paddock as Norris had been widely touted as a potential future team-mate for Max Verstappen, should Sergio Perez fail to convince Red

Bull bosses that he was good value for a contract extension beyond the end of the 2024 campaign. By penning a new deal, Norris took himself out of the running for the seat alongside

Verstappen, and he also removed himself from the pool of potential Lewis Hamilton replacements at Mercedes after the seven-time world champion made the surprise decision to sign a contract

with Ferrari at the start of February.  However, according to _Express Sport_ readers, Norris’ early contract move wasn’t the wrong one. Following a survey of 7,057 F1 fans, 57 per cent

believed that the 24-year-old was correct to keep faith in the McLaren organisation with only 43 per cent believing that his latest deal was a mistake. Following the season opener in

Bahrain, Norris’ decision looked to have aged relatively well. The Sakhir International Circuit is not a track that suits the MCL38’s design, but the team still walked away with P7 and P9

finishes and managed to keep the pressure on Mercedes, marking them out as the joint-third fastest teams on the grid. Assessing the pecking order after the opening weekend of the season,

Norris told _Sky Sports_: “I think everyone is closer, I don’t think it was as easy for Max. I think we’ve got to go to some tracks, especially on a day like today, you want a good race car,

a car which is nice on tyres and fast.  “I think that’s as good as the Red Bull gets almost. So I’m hoping we will be closer at certain places. We’re going to still struggle at certain

places too, but I think everyone’s more compressed. I think between Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston [Martin], us, maybe not so much the Astons today for some reason, but everyone’s closer, and I

think it’s a good sign for everyone watching.”