“He is one of the most desired drivers”: Who is the 23-year-old F1 jewel that everyone is talking about and why Red Bull and Ferrari are fighting for him

Lando Norris has the name of a Star Wars character, the last name of an action hero, and the attitude of a rockstar. At only 23 years old and his spectacular participation in the Silverstone GP, where he finished second after enduring the attacks of Hamilton, he has become one of the most desired drivers on the grid, despite the fact that his link with McLaren is until 2025 with an annual salary of 18.6 million euros. A contract without an exit clause and that, according to the first information, Ferrari and Red Bull want to break to take over the young Briton who has lived his entire career in the Formula 1 wielding a McLaren steering wheel.

The 2015 Formula MSA champion, Formula Renault Eurocup (2016), Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2016), Toyota Racing Series (2016) and the Formula 3 European Championship (2017), despite his youth, has experience that makes him special. It is not for nothing that he has contested 92 events, accumulating seven podiums, 470 points, one pole position and five fastest laps. Quite a remarkable achievement considering the scarce 23 years of him.

The contracts of the two Ferrari drivers, Sainz and Leclerc, expire at the end of 2024 and the team is unclear about the continuity of both. “Leclerc is capable of doing exceptional things. He is a driver who always thinks about winning. Our car is behind the Red Bull, but he is still there thinking about how to try. Instead, Carlos is very consistent. He is able to pace himself and that makes him a bit better than Charles. He doesn’t have the big spikes of Charles, but he is very close to him at times. He is good at limiting serious mistakes and he is always there ”, Fred Vasseur, the team manager of the scarlet house, recently stated.

So far this year, Sainz has an average of fourth in the standings against Leclerc’s sixth, while in the race results both have an average of sixth place. In the championship, the Spaniard is 9 points ahead of the Monegasque. In summary, Sainz is slightly better than Leclerc, but the team is clear that although they are regular with Carlos, Charles gives them hope. This reality indicates that the Italian house would be closer to staying with Leclerc and releasing, in 2024, Sainz, who sounds strong as a driver for the Audi team from 2026.

At Red Bull, nobody doubts Verstappen. The two-time champion, current leader and with a contract until the end of 2028, has a secure contract with the house of the winged bull. However, the seat that has been under observation for several races is that of Checo Pérez (whose contract ends in 2024). His public confrontations with Max, his poor performance in the qualifying rounds and his unworthy results for the lethality of the Red Bull (all should be 1-2) have vanished the Mexican’s undisputed status.

More and more voices are being heard that Pérez’s presence in the team is the product of the economic effort of billionaire Carlos Slim. The link between the two is more than well known and there have been many occasions on which Pérez has referred to him as “his second father of him”. However, now that the team has gained glory and prominence, everything indicates that Slim’s injection could be replaced to free up that seat. Not surprisingly, this week, Forbes magazine announced that the Red Bull team is currently valued at two thousand 600 million dollars.

Both in the case of Ferrari and Red Bull, a seat is released yes or yes in 2024 and both teams have set their sights on Lando Norris. Between the two, the conversations would be more directed with the house of the winged bull. At Silverstone, Lando Norris’ manager Mark Berryman was seen speaking with Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, who has admitted in the past that he thought of signing him instead of Checo a few years ago. In addition, it is known that Lando Norris is one of the few friends of Max Verstappen on the grid, a reality that would help to decompress the internal team and dissolve the current annoyance of the monarch. Meanwhile, the Briton returns to the track this weekend aboard a McLaren that continues to improve and that makes him, with each turn, more desired in a dream duel for any driver: the mythical glory of Ferrari or the forceful lethality of Red Bull.