Red Bull Advisor Reveals There Was 'A Contract Ready' For Lando Norris

Saajan Jogia | Sep 6, 2024

Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Second placed Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren talk in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit on May 19, 2024 in Imola, Italy. / Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko revealed that McLaren driver Lando Norris would have been a part of the Red Bull family by securing a seat with junior team Toro Rosso, now known as VCARB. He revealed that a contract was kept ready for the British driver, but Norris eventually chose to sign with McLaren.

Norris joined McLaren as a junior driver in 2017 and took over for Fernando Alonso during FP1 at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, before making his full-time F1 debut for McLaren at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Toro Rosso, meanwhile, pitched Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat in both its cars.

The 24-year-old driver went on to climb the ranks with the Papaya outfit ever since, securing his maiden win in Formula 1 at this year's Miami Grand Prix. He bagged his second win at the recent Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, courtesy of McLaren's resurgence in the ground effect era that began in 2022.

After Red Bull's dominant 2023 season, where it won 21 of 22 races, it was expected that it would continue its momentum into 2024. While Max Verstappen clinched seven of the first ten Grands Prix, Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari drivers secured victories in the remaining nine races of the 16 held so far.

Red Bull attributed the performance slump to a balance problem on the RB20 F1 car that was left disturbed after the outfit introduced mid-season upgrades. The problem worsened to a point where Norris was the first driver to cross the finish line ahead of Verstappen at this home race at Zandvoort by a massive margin of 23 seconds.

Marko revealed that Norris would have been with Red Bull had he accepted the Toro Rosso seat for his Formula 1 debut instead of choosing McLaren. He told the Inside Line F1 Podcast:

"We had serious discussions and we had a contract ready for Lando Norris. For AlphaTauri, or Toro Rosso at that time. Unfortunately, they [McLaren] found out. They had two contracts and then one was a clause which stopped this cooperation with Lando Norris."

Had Norris been at Red Bull alongside Verstappen, he would likely have faced similar performance challenges with the car. Currently, McLaren is just 8 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, while Norris trails the leading Red Bull driver by 62 points in the Drivers' Standings. With eight races remaining, the championship remains wide open, promising an intense battle right to the season finale.