Lando Norris has the name of a Star Wars character, the last name of an action hero, and the attitude of a rockstar. At only 23 years old, and with his spectacular performance in the Silverstone GP, where he finished second after enduring Hamilton's attacks, he has become one of the most desired drivers on the grid, despite his contract with McLaren running until 2025 with an annual salary of 18.6 million euros. A contract without an exit clause that, according to the first reports, Ferrari and Red Bull want to break to get the young British driver who has spent his entire career in Formula 1 behind the wheel of a McLaren.
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The 2015 MSA Formula champion, the Eurocup Formula Renault champion (2016), the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion (2016), the Toyota Racing Series champion (2016), and the European Formula 3 champion (2017), despite his youth, has experience that makes him special. Not in vain, he has competed in 92 races, accumulating seven podiums, 470 points, one pole position, and five fastest laps. A remarkable achievement considering his young age.
The contracts of Ferrari's two drivers, Sainz and Leclerc, expire at the end of 2024 and the team has no clear idea about their continuity. "Leclerc is capable of doing exceptional things. He is a driver who always thinks about winning. Our car is behind Red Bull, but he keeps on thinking about how to try it. On the other hand, Carlos is very consistent. He is capable of managing his pace and that makes him a little better than Charles. He doesn't have the big peaks of Charles, but sometimes he is very close to him. He is good at limiting serious mistakes and he is always there," recently affirmed Fred Vasseur, the team manager of the scarlet team.
So far this year, Sainz has an average of fourth place in the standings against Leclerc's sixth place, while in the race results they both have an average of sixth place. In the championship, the Spanish driver has a 9-point advantage over the Monegasque driver. In summary, Sainz is slightly better than Leclerc, but the team is clear that while Carlos provides them with consistency, Charles brings them hope. This reality indicates that the Italian team would be closer to keeping Leclerc and letting Sainz go free in 2024, who is strongly rumored to be a driver for the Audi team starting in 2026.
At Red Bull, no one doubts Verstappen. The two-time champion, current leader, and with a contract until the end of 2028, has a safe seat with the team with the winged bull. However, the seat that has been under observation for several races now is Checo Pérez's (whose contract ends in 2024). His public clashes with Max, his poor performance in qualifying sessions, and his unworthy results for the lethalness of the Red Bulls (they should all be 1-2) have faded the Mexican's status as irrefutable.
More and more voices are being heard about Pérez's presence in the team being the result of the economic effort of billionaire Carlos Slim. The link between them is well known and there have been many occasions when Pérez has referred to Slim as his "second father." However, now that the team has won glory and prominence, everything indicates that Slim's injection could be replaced to free up that seat. Not in vain, this week Forbes magazine announced that currently the Red Bull team is valued at $2.6 billion.
Both Ferrari and Red Bull will free up a seat in 2024, and both teams have set their sights on Lando Norris. Between the two, negotiations would be more advanced with the team with the winged bull. In Silverstone, Mark Berryman, Norris' representative, was seen talking to Helmut Marko (Red Bull), who in the past admitted that he thought about signing him instead of Checo a few years ago. In addition, it is known that Lando Norris is one of the few friends of Max Verstappen on the grid, a fact that would help ease the tension within the team and dissolve the current annoyance of the champion. Meanwhile, the British driver returns to the track this weekend aboard a McLaren that continues to improve and that makes him, with each lap, more desired in a dream duel for any driver: the mythical glory of Ferrari or the decisive lethality of Red Bull.