Lando Norris is certainly a hot topic in Formula 1 currently, with it having come to light that Red Bull approached the 22-year-old before he signed his long-term contract with McLaren.
The Woking-based side announced at the start of the season that Norris had signed a lucrative long-term deal which’ll see him remain in papaya colours until the end of 2025, prior to the new engine regulations being introduced in 2026.
The lucrative contract reportedly sees the Brit earn around £20 million per season, presumably excluding any form of performance bonus.
This deal actually makes him one of the highest earners on the grid; however, still some way behind Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who earn double a year.
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Given that both Norris and Red Bull boss Christian Horner have confirmed that talks have taken place, perhaps the Austrians were considering poaching the British driver to replace Sergio Pérez.
The Mexican actually signed a new deal with the side following his victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, which’ll see him at the side until the end of 2024, by which point he’ll be 34 years old.
Despite having enjoyed a strong end to the year, perhaps Red Bull are considering who’ll replace Pérez should he not be retained for 2025, especially given that Norris will still be one of the younger drivers on the grid.
Horner confirmed that multiple talks have taken place with the McLaren driver, who is actually good friends with double World Champion Max Verstappen.
The Red Bull boss joked, though, that every time they’ve spoken, Norris has signed a new deal with McLaren “the next day”.
“We’ve spoken with Lando a couple of times over the years,” revealed Horner.
“But every time we’ve had a conversation, the next day, he’s signed a contract with McLaren. He’s on a long-term contract and looks like he’s going to be there for a few more years,” Horner explained.
Norris himself wasn’t afraid to admit that talks had taken place with Red Bull prior to signing his new deal, which does present an interesting question.
Had Norris not signed an extension with McLaren and had instead signed a deal with Red Bull, would he be in the energy drink-owned team’s colours next season?
The Quadrant founder labelled the talks as just “keeping in touch”, but that he did speak to the leading side before accepting a new deal at McLaren.
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“Of course, there are talks with other people from time to time,” Norris told Auto Motor und Sport.
“You always ask yourself the question: What’s best for your career? After all, I want to win and win world championships. There have been talks with Red Bull. They are a team that has been in the top three for years.
“I was coming to the end of my contract, and it wasn’t like [Red Bull and I] were talking heavily. I literally said it was just that everyone always tries to speak to all teams at some point, so I spoke to them, and I spoke to a few other people. A chat’s a chat. It’s not like, ‘what can we do straight away?’ Just keeping in touch, things like that, it’s as simple as that sometimes.”