Every team on the paddock has got a future young star of F1. Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, Alex Albon, and the list goes on. These young drivers are often compared to each other and classified on whether they are World Championship material or not. Such a comparison also took place in Lando Norris’ case when he met Red Bull’s Helmut Marko back in 2016.

Lando Norris was called on for a meeting by Red Bull’s driver development head Dr. Helmut Marko in Monte Carlo. This was during the 2016 Monaco GP weekend. The year was also Max Verstappen‘s first season for Red Bull.

Norris had taken pole position in a junior series race at Monaco that weekend. Dr. Marko was likely impressed by seeing the Brit’s speed and thus called him for a chat. After some casual talks, he asked the youngster whether he knew how much his car weighed. In response, Lando was clueless.

The Austrian said to him, “Well, Max would know, Max knows everything about the car.” This certainly would have been an odd moment for Norris. Only if he knew his car specs and some more technical details.

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Perhaps this interaction potentially kept Marko from signing up Norris. Do you think that can be the reason why the 23-year-old is not driving for RBR today?

Will we ever see a Lando Norris vs Max Verstappen head-to-head battle?

All drivers battle with each other in races at some point or other. But when they are in equal machinery, a season-long championship battle is always on the cards. In 2022, we got a pitched battle between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc (at least until the summer break).

Meanwhile, Lando Norris has suffered from the reduced pace of his MCL36. Mclaren expected their car to join the top of the pack with the 2022 regulation change. Nevertheless, it is more of the same from previous seasons with Lando in the midfield. This has kept him from fighting for wins as his fellow mates like Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, and Russell have done in some capacity.

The question is, when will Norris get a chance to fight alongside his batch of mates for wins and championships? Because if when he does, we can get a real head-to-head comparison between Norris and Verstappen.

Furthermore, will he get to compete in a McLaren or will we see Norris switching to Red Bull or Mercedes? Now, if such an opportunity arises, there is a probability that the Briton might take it.

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With the 2023 season promising to be even closer, we might see many drivers challenging Max Verstappen. Be it Leclerc, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, or Perez, the next season might be really exciting. But do you think Norris can join this fight?