Lando Norris is waiting for another opportunity rather than take up a Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen, according to Dutch pundit Tom Coronel. The Brit admitted that he briefly spoke to the energy drink giant before signing his long-term contract extension with McLaren earlier this year but has still been tipped to make the move in the future.
Norris is one of the best young drivers on the grid, performing well during his three seasons with McLaren. He comprehensively outperformed team-mate Daniel Ricciardo over the last two years leading to the experienced race winner being released from his contract a year early to be replaced by Oscar Piastri.
His displays have seen him linked with a move further up the grid with Mercedes and most notably Red Bull among those to have been mooted. The 23-year-old admitted he held talks with the team before extending his stay with McLaren until 2025 and Coronel has argued it was the right decision as he awaits other opportunities.
“Whether he should sit next to Max?”, he asked himself during an interview with FORMULE 1 Magazine in the Netherlands. “No. Then he will get the same as all the others (Gasly, Albon, Perez). Besides Max, your career just stops.
“It was wise of Norris not to go to Red Bull. It is better to wait for another opportunity. He actually does that now.”
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However, Coronel has also claimed McLaren are also the ‘wrong team’ as they do not offer the same chances for sporting success that he could find elsewhere. In the meantime, he must show patience and ‘find an opportunity elsewhere’ if his current employers cannot get out of the midfield pack.
In October, Norris confirmed he had held talks with Red Bull but decided to remain at McLaren after coming to the conclusion that it was the best place for him.
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“Of course there are talks with other people from time to time,” he told Auto Motor und Sport magazine. “You always ask yourself the question: What is the best thing for my career? I want to win and win world championships.
“There have been talks with Red Bull. They are a team that has been in the top three for years. But that just shows even more how much confidence I have in McLaren. Although there were talks, I felt McLaren was better for me to achieve my goals.”
In recent weeks, rumors about Norris ditching McLaren for Red Bull have hotted up once again. Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has even urged Red Bull to buy the 23-year-old out of his McLaren contract.
“I think they [Red Bull] should be going hard to try and buy Lando Norris,” Chandhok said on Sky Sports’ 2022 season review programme, while host Simon Lazenby echoed the pundit’s sentiments. “Absolutely, spot on,” the host added. “He’s got a contract at McLaren until the end of 2025, I wonder if he thinks that’s too long.”
