Helmut Marko has confirmed that Red Bull are targeting Lando Norris as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez. However, the Austrian also admitted that the Brit’s contract could be an ‘unfortunate’ sticking point when it comes to attracting him to Milton Keynes in 2025.
Red Bull’s chief advisor has regularly criticised Perez this year, raising major doubts over the Mexican’s presence at the Milton Keynes-based team for the 2024 campaign, let alone beyond the expiration of his current deal at the end of next season.
Norris, meanwhile, has been one of the most impressive drivers on the grid this year. The young Briton has two podium finishes to his name already in 2023, finishing P2 at both Silverstone and the Hungaroring as he continues to lead McLaren in their charge up the order.
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Talking to Servus TV about the team’s future line-up, Marko explained: “Perez is not consistent. He is not always focused. But he has a contract until 2024 and Lando Norris has a contract until 2025. Unfortunate that it’s for so long because he would he would be one of the candidates [to replace Checo].
“We had already reached an agreement with Norris for Toro Rosso at the time, until his manager realised that there was an option in the contract with McLaren. But in terms of youth and speed, he would suit us very well.”
It’s easy to see why Red Bull hold an interest in Norris. The 23-year-old already has eight podiums to his name in midfield machinery and has a decade in hand on Checo in terms of age, making him an obvious long-term replacement for the Mexican driver.
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Furthermore, Norris holds a close personal relationship with the team’s star driver Max Verstappen with the pair spending time together during breaks between race weekends. This dynamic would be both marketable and create a positive working environment at the factory in Milton Keynes.
However, with the young Brit tied down for another two seasons at McLaren and Zak Brown unlikely to let the team’s golden boy go without a fight, Red Bull may have to look elsewhere.
Internally, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and even Liam Lawson could be in consideration for a promotion. The trio have all impressed in the AlphaTauri at times this season and the former is an extremely marketable figure in the F1 paddock.
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