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McLaren have prolonged their contract with Australian rookie Oscar Piastri till the top of 2026.
The 22-year-old has impressed alongside British team-mate Lando Norris this season with performances that recommend he might be a star of the long run.
Norris is contracted to McLaren till the top of 2025.
Staff principal Andrea Stella mentioned conserving Piastri, who’s eleventh within the drivers’ championship, was an “straightforward choice for the workforce to make”.
Stella added: “Oscar always impresses together with his efficiency, work ethic and angle.”
Piastri mentioned: “I need to be combating it out on the entrance of the grid with this workforce and I’m excited by the imaginative and prescient and foundations which might be already being laid to get us there.
“The welcome that I’ve acquired and the relationships that I’ve constructed make this really feel like house already. The workforce’s constant dedication to me has made me really feel extremely valued and the need from the workforce for me to be a part of its long-term future made this a simple choice.
“To be wished like that – and for the workforce to indicate a lot perception in me after simply half a season – means loads.”
Piastri’s highlights this yr embrace ending second within the dash race on the Belgian Grand Prix and qualifying third at Silverstone.
He has additionally impressed together with his calm, laid-back, down-to-earth strategy.
He joined the workforce this yr after McLaren gained a contractual dispute over his future with the Alpine workforce.
Stella has emphasised that even when Piastri was discovering his ft early within the season, he was fast sufficient in some corners to supply a benchmark for Norris.
McLaren Racing chief government Zak Brown mentioned: “He is an unimaginable expertise and an asset to the workforce so it is unbelievable to be committing to one another in the long run. Oscar is already proving what he can do out on observe and has been instrumental within the turnaround we have had thus far this season.”
McLaren began the season poorly however mid-season automotive developments have put them proper within the battle behind Pink Bull together with Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin.
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