Marko reveals secrets about a blocked Red Bull deal with Norris
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Helmut Marko has suggested Lando Norris could've found himself racing for Red Bull's sister team had McLaren not blocked a ready-made deal. The external Red Bull Racing advisor has broadcast some hidden details about a deal that would've changed the landscape of Formula 1.
During the 2024 Formula 1 season, Norris is starting to engage in a World Championship battle. The 24-year-old has a 62-point gap to bridge to Max Verstappen with eight Grands Prix weekends remaining. The two competitors are really good friends off the track and have flown together after races. However, that relationship was tested after the two crashed during the Austrian Grand Prix earlier in the season. A week later, both drivers were quick to say everything was smoothed over.
How the Formula 1 landscape could've been different
Instead of being on different teams, it turns out that they could've potentially been teammates. According to Marko, there was a deal on the table that would've seen Norris make his debut at Toro Rosso. A good performance at Toro Rosso [now known as VCARB] often results in a promotion to the team at the front of the grid.
"We had serious discussions and we had a contract ready for Lando Norris. For AlphaTauri, or Toro Rosso at that time. Unfortunately, they [McLaren] found out. They had two contracts and then one was a clause which stopped this cooperation with Lando Norris," Marko revealed on the Inside Line F1 podcast.
Norris became a McLaren junior driver in 2017 and replaced then-McLaren driver Fernando Alonso for FP1 at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix. He made his Grand Prix debut for McLaren at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix and finished just outside the points. At the time, Toro Rosso had Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat racing for them, while Pierre Gasly was trying to impress at Red Bull Racing.