Norris to Ferrari or Red Bull? According to the former F1 driver, a real possibility, his transfer may be decided this season

Will Lando Norris leave McLaren? That’s a perfectly legitimate question, given the current problems and performance of the British team. And according to former driver Karun Chandhok, Norris is one of the drivers who will consider a move to Ferrari or Red Bull in the future.

McLaren is having a truly disastrous start to the new season. In the opening race of the 2023 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, the British team failed to score a single point. Oscar Piastri dropped out of the race due to electronic problems, while Norris finished 17th, but with six pit stops in total.

And it is the latter who former driver Karun Chandhok says should look for another engagement. Norris is one of a group of young talents, including Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

“I’ll tell you that a young Lando Norris will be thinking about a move to Ferrari or Red Bull,” Chandhok told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

“For example, if McLaren don’t finish in the top four in the constructors’ championship two years in a row, is there a chance Lando could look elsewhere? Because outside of the top three teams, you have Fernando Alonso and Lando on the grid who are outside the top three,” he explains.

“And the fact that he (Norris) is struggling to get a car into Q3 at all, it must be a bit frustrating, I would say,” Chandhok added.

Contract until 2025, another tragic season?

McLaren has finally picked itself up again in recent years. It even recorded a double in the 2021 season when Daniel Ricciardo won at Monza ahead of second-placed Norris.

The Woking-based team finished third in the 2020 Constructors’ Cup. Although they finished fourth a year later, further improvement was evident. However, McLaren failed to make the transition to the new era of F1 and they had already seen a big drop in performance last year.

And by all predictions so far, it looks like this year will be an even bigger disaster for McLaren. Norris himself has signed a contract with his current employer until 2025 in more recent times, with the prospect of McLaren getting back into the title fight, of course.

But nothing of the sort will happen for this season at least, and perhaps for the seasons to come. So it stands to reason that unless something moves forward in a significant way for McLaren, Norris will have to consider a move elsewhere.

F1, Sky Sports F1