“Lando and Max would be Rosberg/Hamilton”- F1 Fans speculate Lando Norris’s failed talks with Red Bull
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Lando Norris's talks with Red Bull could've led to him partnering Verstappen
Lando Norris has solidified his position in Formula 1 as a potential future world champion. Ever since joining McLaren in 2019, he has delivered impressive performances for the team, matching Carlos Sainz for the first two years with the team. He shocked the Formula 1 world when he outshined the multiple Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo as a teammate in 2021 and 2022. Arguably ending Daniel’s stint in F1 while he took the role of the team leader.
Red Bull F1 team struggled with its second driver after Ricciardo’s departure from the Austrian team. Red Bull had two failed stints with Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon as teammates to Max Verstappen but both drivers failed to handle the pressure in a top team and did not match expectations. Red Bull, fortunately, landed up with Sergio Perez who has been a solid and consistent teammate to Verstappen.
Recently Lando Norris mentioned his contract talks with Red Bull before signing an extension with McLaren. The Brit could have potentially been an ideal fit at Red Bull, matching the speed of Max Verstappen while also having many years in him for the team to keep both drivers in the long term. However, the talks did not go much further as Red Bull decided to extend the contract with Perez while Lando stayed at McLaren.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen: A potentially lethal combination?
After the news was published, F1 Twitter got up for discussion with fans speculating about the possibility of such a driver pairing. One fan mentioned the possibility of the relations between the two going sour like what we saw between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the fan said, “Lando and Max would be Rosberg/Hamilton” Another fan said, “I’m surprised that RB would even have entertained a driver capable of threatening Max,” referring to Red Bull’s desire to have a driver who can play second fiddle to Verstappen. While one user replied, “He wouldn’t be able to cope with the toxic atmosphere there,” expressing their relief over the Brit not joining a team with a toxic atmosphere.
Undoubtedly, a driver combination of Norris and Verstappen would be one of the strongest on the Formula 1 grid. But that itself might be what stopped it from becoming reality, two young ruthless drivers who would aim for the win, it would not take long for things to heat up. As we’ve seen time and time again, two teammates fighting amongst themselves is a recipe for disaster. (See Spain 2016, Monaco 2018, Belgium 2017).
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