Red Bull’s biggest loss is now its biggest enemy

Red Bull's failure to sign a young talent half a decade ago has led to Max Verstappen's biggest title threat in 2024.

Red Bull’s biggest loss is now its biggest enemy

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (Via: Imago)

Red Bull Racing dominated Formula 1 at the start of the ground-effect era. Max Verstappen was simply in a league of his own in the past two seasons. However, things have changed with Verstappen facing a big threat from a driver who could’ve been part of Milton Keynes, Lando Norris.

Norris made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2019 after being part of its driver academy. However, things could’ve been far different. Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko recently revealed that the Austrian giant offered Lando Norris a seat at Toro Rosso for 2019. Unfortunately, this offer was blocked by the Woking-based squad.

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Now, Lando Norris is considered the favorite to dethrone Max Verstappen this season. The British driver is slowly closing the gap to Verstappen in the standings. As such, Red Bull would be scratching its head to see its biggest loss become its biggest enemy in Formula 1.

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris even rejected Red Bull’s offers himself

Since 2019, Red Bull has faced a driver problem regarding Verstappen’s teammates. The Austrian squad was forced to sign Sergio Perez for 2021 after the failures of Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon. However, during this period, Lando Norris was approached by Milton Keynes to partner Max Verstappen. Although, the Briton simply rejected the team’s offers.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

Now, Norris has the fastest car on the grid with eight races to defeat Verstappen. The British driver did make mistakes at the start of the season but bounced back with his victory in Zandvoort. Red Bull’s defeat in Max Verstappen’s backyard must’ve devastated the team’s morale.

Moreover, the Austrian team’s recent upgrades have seemingly made the car worse. Christian Horner has admitted that the RB20 has severe balance issues which have made it impossible for Verstappen to fight for wins. The Dutch driver even claimed that winning the title was unrealistic.

Certainly, Red Bull would keep regretting the fact that they could not sign Lando Norris before the Briton became Verstappen’s rival. However, Milton Keynes would be working around the clock to try and salvage the season. Max Verstappen is a fighter who does not give up till the final lap of the final race.

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