Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted that he’s “keeping an eye” on Lando Norris, a driver he admits has a “big talent”.
Since joining the Formula 1 paddock in 2019, Norris has taken the sport by storm, especially considering he’s raced mainly for a midfield team.
With the exception of 2021 and the second half of 2023, McLaren have very much been amongst the midfield, an area Norris has bossed.
The British drive has often ended a season as the highest finishing midfield driver, behind the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
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However, when he’s had a car capable of finishing amongst the frontrunners, he’s more often than not capitalised on the opportunity.
2023 has been living proof of that, as McLaren have recently gotten themselves right in the thick of it with Mercedes and Ferrari in particular.
The Woking-based team have been rejuvenated since introducing a huge upgrades package at the Austrian Grand Prix, which has completely turned their season around.
Prior to Austria, McLaren were struggling to even get amongst the midfield; however, they are now seen by many as Red Bull’s biggest threat.
Norris alone has claimed four P2 finishes in the last seven races, whereas Sergio Perez has claimed three podiums in the last seven races.
Whilst Norris can’t replace Perez in 2025 due to his own contract not expiring until the end of that season, it does seem likely that the 23-year-old will drive for Red Bull at some point during his F1 career.
One thing which is for certain, is that he’s rated very highly by Horner.
“Lando’s a great driver,” Horner told Sky Sports.
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“He’s a big talent, big personality and, of course, he’s one of those drivers that you keep an eye on. But there’s many drivers that you keep an eye on, as well.
“There’s a generation of drivers out there at the moment that have got a huge amount of talent. Now, being Max’s teammate is never going to be easy and some drivers may be up for that challenge, some may not be.
“But, of course, as well as the drivers we have in-house, we keep an eye on all the driver market. As you can imagine, there’s quite a bit of interest from certain sectors about driving a Red Bull car.”