Christian Horner Was “Interested” to Sign Lando Norris as Max Verstappen’s Teammate After McLaren Failed Him

The beginning of 2023 was quite an interesting time for McLaren with the Lando Norris, proving himself yet again. However, the driver with high potential took a hit because of the MCL60’s subpar performance. And before the changes were made to make the team stand fourth in the constructors cup, the drivers were not enjoying the party.

Zak Brown was under pressure and before the team struck a multi-year deal with the driver, Norris was on the radar for the winning team. In Season 6 of Drive to Survive, Episode 3 shows Red Bull’s attempt to bag the young driver after seeing his time in McLaren. And while it’s common knowledge now that Red Bull failed, here is what Christian Horner had to say about Norris and Max Verstappen.

Red Bull’s dream team, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris

The latest season of Netflix’s docu-series Drive to Survive shows Christian Horner’s plans to get Lando Norris driving alongside Max Verstappen. Horner said, “Lando’s one of the most talented drivers on the grid. In the right car, he would be a winning driver. There’s absolutely no doubt in that.”

Horner asked the question of the hour, “Can his career take another year of being in the doldrums?” He then explained, “A driver’s career has a finite amount of time to it. And he needs to make the right decisions for him at the end of the day.” He breaks the suspense and says, “We’d certainly be interested in him. If he’s delivering, he’s not gonna be short of choices. He’s just gotta sure he makes the right choice.” The right choice is Red Bull, according to Christian Horner, and it would be hard to argue otherwise.

“I admire Lando’s loyalty to McLaren, but, at some point, that will wear thin. I think he would fit in our environment longer term,” said Horner. Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are friends off track and the Red Bull principal stated, “He and Max have a good respect and good relationship together. So you could see that being a combination that could work.” Red Bull has consistently had strong cars and has absolutely dominated 2023, with Max Verstappen being unbeatable in almost every race. The seat with Verstappen would be a great opportunity for Norris, but it would come with massive competition.

It’s not smart to join Red Bull according to Lando Norris

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are big admirers of Lando Norris and believe that he is a great fit for Red Bull. According to them, Lando Norris would fare quite well compared to all the teammates that Max Verstappen has blown away.

After signing his multi-year contract with McLaren, Norris told Sky Sports that he isn’t scared of going against any driver, but said it’s “not a smart move” to join “one of the best drivers in the world’s” team. This was reported by PlanetF1. Norris explained that would be the case because it takes time to adapt and get into place with a new team, meaning the instant challenge Norris would face going into Red Bull could just be too much.

He prefers to beat the scene from the outside, believing McLaren will give him the best shot at doing that. With this move, not only did he secure a future with McLaren, giving the team hope to enter the top three again, but also proved Horner wrong about his loyalty wavering with time.

Read More – Lando Norris Claims a Golf Caddy Was Quicker Than McLaren in 2023

That being said, do you think Zak Brown will be able to deliver a car that will do Lando Norris justice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.