Lando Norris will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2023 and win the Drivers’ Championship the following year, British F1 reporter Will Buxton has suggested in his “just-for-fun” summer prediction.
Red Bull signed Sergio Perez as Alex Albon’s replacement coming into 2021, but despite winning in Baku, the Mexican has fallen short of pre-season expectations.
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Norris, in contrast, has been consistently exceptional this year, with him extracting all of the performance from his McLaren MCL35M to score three podiums and garner an impressive tally of points.
In his “just-for-fun” prediction, published on F1.com, Buxton said he believes Red Bull will retain Perez for 2022 before signing Norris the following year.
“We’ll start down at Red Bull Racing, where in my little scenario the team took Drivers’ and Constructors’ glory in 2021 and opted to stick with Sergio Perez for 2022,” Buxton wrote.
“A combination of their focus on the previous year’s successful title fight and a resurgent Mercedes however, left them struggling to keep up in 2022.
“At season’s end, Red Bull got the man they’d been eyeing since early 2021 and shocked the paddock by announcing they’d lured Lando Norris away from McLaren.
“Having paid an eye-watering sum to initiate a break clause in his contract, he gelled with the team immediately.
“Second in the Constructors’ Championship in 2023, Verstappen nevertheless takes the Drivers’ crown. In 2024 it’s Norris who takes the World Championship as Red Bull take back-to-back team wins. They enter 2025 as favourites again.”
As for the fate of McLaren’s driver line-up, Buxton suggested they will be running Pierre Gasly and IndyCar racer Patricio O’Ward by 2025.
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