McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has insisted that Lando Norris will not be going anywhere until his contract expires, amid reported interest from Red Bull.
Throughout his Formula 1 career, Norris has always been rumoured as a potential Red Bull driver for the future, something advisor Dr Helmut Marko recently admitted he could “imagine”.
Norris was heavily linked to Red Bull last season before signing a new long-term deal with McLaren, which secured his services until the end of 2025.
The British driver supposedly held talks with the Austrians, only to then agree to remain with the Woking-based team.
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However, following uncertainty over Sergio Perez’s future, Norris has once again been linked with a move to Red Bull.
Some have suggested that Norris could replace Checo next season, despite the fact the Mexican driver has a contract for 2024.
The same can be said for Norris, who has another two years left on his McLaren deal.
However, this hasn’t stopped the rumours, with 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg having even asked Brown where their star driver was going, as he’d heard “there’s a switch coming”.
“Where’s he going? Next year already, I hear there’s a switch coming,” Rosberg asked Brown on Sky Sports F1.
Brown quashed the rumours and insisted that Norris wasn’t going anywhere until his deal concludes, something he later confirmed to Motorsport-Total.com.
“Correct. Lando will be racing at McLaren through to 2025. Absolutely,” Brown told Motorsport-Total.com.
What hasn’t helped the rumours in McLaren’s case, is that Norris has openly admitted that he’d be “open” to partnering Verstappen in the future, with that more likely to happen at Red Bull than McLaren.
Norris and Verstappen are, of course, very good friends and are often seen together away from the sport.
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The McLaren driver thinks it’d be “great” to partner Verstappen to test his own skills and see just how good he is.
“It’s definitely something I would be open to in the future,” Norris told media including PlanetF1.com.
“I think it’d be great to work alongside someone like that and, at the same time, see where I can really stand against him. I’d be open for it.”