Red Bull Racing wants a move on from Sergio Perez, and the desperation in Helmut Marko is more than evident at this point, with Max Verstappen putting up an astonishing show on the other side of the garage. There is no denying that the Austrian always had Perez’s back through tough times, and almost shielded the Mexican amid countless criticisms from the media.
However, by the looks of it, Marko and of course, Red Bull’s leading team principal, Christian Horner, are well past that and seeking a permanent solution to the ever-growing ‘second driver’ problem at the Milton Keynes outfit. In search of an answer, Red Bull stumbled upon McLaren’s lead driver Lando Norris, who hasn’t looked as happy with the team in recent months.
And one can sense the Briton yearning for a move to Red Bull, which could well put him on a pedastal to finally win races. But, despite both parties seemingly wanting the same, Norris’ contract with the Woking outfit is coming up as the biggest hindrance. While Marko wants a driver switch to take place as early as next year, Norris’ tenure at McLaren only ends at the end of 2025, which will leave Red Bull with a whole year of uncertainty.
Amid such complications evolving in this never-ending saga, Verstappen opined that Norris shouldn’t have signed a mammoth deal with McLaren in 2021.
Max Verstappen open to racing alongside Lando Norris at Red Bull
Despite admitting a move to Red Bull was a bit impractical, Verstappen reckoned that it would have been fun to race alongside the young British driver. “Well, I mean, he signed a very long-term deal with McLaren a few years ago,” he said according to Planet F1.
Max Verstappen joked about Lando’s McLaren deal:
“He signed a very long-term deal with McLaren a few years ago so that was, that was probably not a smart thing to do him from his side.”
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“So that was probably not a smart thing to do, from his side. We have a good relationship and we get on very well. I know he’s one of the best drivers out there at the moment and, for sure, it would be very interesting to team up with each other. But, at the moment, of course, that’s not possible.”
Norris has inarguably been the center point of McLaren ever since the Brtion made his way to the Zak Brown-led outfit. However, after years of failed promises, McLaren continues to linger among the mid-field, with almost no hopes of competing at the top. Therefore, Norris wanting Red Bull over McLaren sounds more than reasonable, will his wish come to fruition?