Red Bull dealt double blow in pursuit of McLaren’s Lando Norris to partner Max Verstappen

McLaren put in a great display in the second-half of last season and will hope to build on that success to emerge as the main competitors for Red Bull in the upcoming campaign. With Red Bull already claiming that they are observing ‘diminishing returns’ as far as the development of their new challenger is concerned, rivals teams across the grid will hope that this term is not as lop-sided as the last.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Credit: skysports.com
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Credit: skysports.com

Red Bull was comfortably the fastest car on the grid last year, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez combining to win 21 of a possible 22 Grand Prix. However, their dominance is not expected to be quite as menacing this time around.

While Aston Martin, led by Fernando Alonso, was initially the second-fastest car behind Red Bull, they somewhat fell apart as the season wore on. Mercedes eventually finished behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings, but McLaren was widely considered to be the team closest in terms of speed.

Based on this, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confessed that the Papaya-Orange has shown a lot more progress in the off-season, which leads one to believe they can close the gap on Red Bull.

“So far, I have to say we don’t see the diminishing returns,” said Stella.

“This obviously will have to be proven once we put the car on the ground.

“But when it comes to the wind tunnel development or the CFD development, we see that the gradient we established last year, that led to the Austria development and then the Singapore development, it seems like we can maintain it.

“So that’s also where I would expect the launch car to be at the start of the season.”

Can Lando Norris move to Red Bull?

This could serve as a double blow for Red Bull. While they won’t want stiff competition over the course of the season in their bid for another constructors’ championship, McLaren’s resurgence might also be enough to convince Lando Norris not to be tempted by any offers coming his way from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

While Red Bull has expressed an interest in signing the talented British driver for a number of years, McLaren CEO Zak Brown ruled out the possibility.

“There is no number we would be interested in trading him for,” said Brown.

Read more: Despite freshly-signed Mercedes contract extension, Toto Wolff decides future successor

Add Comment