Poor old Lando Norris is in a bind. On the one hand, he’s in the shape of his life with three podiums this season. However, the other end of the scale is that he was a little naughty. To be precise, the McLaren driver collected penalty points like a child filling his pockets with candy.
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The bad news is that the frequency of penalty point selection has resulted in him accumulating 10 points. If he gets two more, he is threatened with the possibility of breaking a ban for a race. Since Daniel Ricciardo is not firing from all cylinders, the team has a problem.
WATCH HISTORY: F1 drivers fight on the track
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Most recently, team boss Andreas Seidl spoke about the game plan in the event that Norris gets a suspension. According to the German, they may have to dive into the Mercedes driver pool. He said: “We have an agreement with Mercedes regarding replacement drivers.”
Who is in prospect of joining McLaren?
Apparently McLaren has the Mercedes Formula E driver Stoffel Vandoorne in mind. It also helps that he is a former McLaren driver himself who drove with the team in 2017 and 2018. In the unlikely event that Vandoorne is not available, Seidl is also open to recruiting people like Nico Hülkenberg.
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SINGAPORE – SEPTEMBER 16: Stoffel Vandoorne of Belgium and McLaren F1 looks on ahead of the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 16, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
Vandoorne took part in the recently completed Formula E double race in New York. Apart from a win in Rome and a podium finish in Valencia, he has not had a good season. Even so, he will be free as he has no racing duties in the Asian Le Mans Series. However, he has a World Endurance Championship race in Monza this weekend.
He will also be grateful that the Le Mans 24 Hours does not collide with the Belgian Grand Prix. There could be a clash during the Mexico and Brazil Grand Prix weekends, but hopefully it shouldn’t get that far.
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