As Max Verstappen’s Threats Get on Christian Horner’s Nerves, Lando Norris Picked as Worthy RB Leader

Patience is a virtue, they say. But we don’t think whoever ‘they’ are has to deal with Max Verstappen constantly complaining about the problems he has to face with the lengthening F1 calendar. Early retirement because of such reasons has been the topic that he has majorly spoken about this year. ‘Oh grow up!’ – is probably what his boss, Christian Horner might be saying, as he looks to have had enough of the incessant retirement talks. To replace him, Red Bull might now be considering McLaren ace, Lando Norris.

Winning week in, week out, and breaking records – doesn’t that sound like a racer’s dream? Apparently not. For Verstappen, even the race calendar needs to be shorter to avoid mental burnout. No other 25-year-old racer has ever spoken about retirement at such a young age. While his personal preferences are definitely plausible and valid, his team sure finds this situation troubling.

In such a scenario, if the Milton-Keynes outfit is to lose a world champion, they would want to fill the vacant space with a like-for-like replacement. This is where Norris comes into the picture. If the Dutchman does finalize his premature exit from Formula 1, Horner would likely look at the young potential world champion that is Lando Norris, according to David Croft.

‘Crofty’ said on Sky Sports, “The more Max says ‘I might not be around after 2028, I might retire early and do other things’, the more Red Bull feel ‘we need a big star to be alongside Max for a couple of years, three years, then be our big star to carry on into the future’. That suits Lando Norris’ star billing, at the moment. Will he stay around at McLaren longer than his contract?”

This could prove to be a dream scenario for Norris. He would finally get a car that worthily facilitates his talent. On the other hand, if Verstappen wants to get rid of this ‘burnout’ that he is having, an ex-ally has given him peculiar but somewhat sensible advice.

Read More: “Don’t You Dare”: After $40,000 Crimes Against Bestie Max Verstappen, Lando Norris’ Activity Sends Fans Into Frenzy

Max Verstappen urged by his ex-performance engineer to sign with Mercedes to re-ignite lost passion

Though Max Verstappen has been winning nearly everything with Red Bull, the long race calendar is bothering him. He is fed up with the tiresome traveling and maybe the inner spark has diminished. To re-ignite some of that fire, his ex-performance engineer, Blake Hinsley, has suggested he join a slower Mercedes team to up the challenge.

Hinsley said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, as quoted by Express “Let’s say you are driving a Mercedes right now, the car is not great and it is a way off winning the championship right now. Which one of those has more hooks to keep you invested? Maybe a couple of years in a slower car and lots of challenges would reignite some of that (lost passion).”

If you try to combine these 2 stories, it could be possible that Norris being competitive in a Red Bull car could also help the 2-time champion to be better and find that lost motivation to compete for long.

WATCH THIS STORY | Race Against Time: The Blazing Top 5 Pit Stops of the 2023 F1 Season