Formula One journalist, and former Formula One team and sponsorship manager Peter Windsor believes Scuderia Ferrari will “go massively all out” to sign Lando Norris in case Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc decided to join Mercedes in 2024, when a seat could open up at the German side if Lewis Hamilton retires.
Since making his Formula 1 debut 4 years ago, Lando Norris has been seen as one of the most promising drivers in the sport and has recently raised some question marks over his future with McLaren given the team’s poor results in the last few years and their apparent inability to improve and allow him to fight at the top.
Lando Norris admitted a few months ago that he talked with Red Bull about the possibility of joining the Austrian side before he eventually decided to sing a contract extension with McLaren. The 23-year-old was interviewed by GQ magazine and confirmed that he was aware of the fact that most likely he would not be in a position of challenging for a Formula One title in the next few years.
Despite the fact that Lewis Hamilton has not expressed any intentions of leaving the sport in 2024, the identity of the seven-time World Champion’s eventual replacement has become one of the key topics of discussions during the last year, as several media outlets have reported that Charles Leclerc was approached by Toto Wolff for a possible move to Mercedes in the future.
Speaking on his official Twitch stream, F1 journalist Peter Windsor has pointed out that if Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff does in fact convince Charles Leclerc to leave the Maranello team and join Mercedes alongside George Russell, the best option for Scuderia Ferrari would be to focus on getting towards Norris to replace the Monegasque driver.
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“Let’s say Lewis stops at the end of ‘24 – let’s say ’23 and see how we go – I would imagine Toto is going to try and go for Charles Leclerc. It would be a mess probably, putting Leclerc with Russell, but if he’s prepared to put Russell with Hamilton, he’s obviously going to be prepared to put him with Charles Leclerc. Let’s assume Leclerc went from Ferrari to Mercedes to replace Lewis, which is not a completely stupid assumption, what then would Ferrari do? I think they would go massively all out to get Lando. And I think Lando at that point would find it quite hard to say no, putting aside all the contractual stuff because I do think that at that level, they can afford to [buy a driver out of their contract]. I think Lando has got half a chance at Ferrari, if Leclerc goes somewhere to replace Lewis – which would be good, wouldn’t it?” – Peter Windsor explained.
The former Formula One team and sponsorship manager feels McLaren’s call not to give Daniel Ricciardo another chance and replace him Oscar Piastri for the next season comes with the risk of destabilising the team’s relationship with Lando Norris.
Talking about the British driver’s negotiations with Red Bull, Peter Windsor believes that Lando Norris is also aware of the risks of racing for the Austrian side alongside Max Verstappen, given the fact that the Dutchman would always be favoured by Red Bull
He added: “Would Zak [Brown, McLaren chief executive] stand in his way? Lando would probably say to Zak, ‘look, everything’s been great. We had Daniel, everything was fine, and then you put Piastri in the car and it’s a mess now. I didn’t want it, you’ve done it, I’m out of here, now.’ That’s probably what he would say.
“From Lando’s point of view, it’s getting to be quite a difficult situation because if there is a Ferrari drive there, that Ferrari drive will be a lot more attractive, for example, than running alongside Max at Red Bull if Perez retired. I think if you’re Lando, if you’re going anywhere you go to either Ferrari or Mercedes. You wouldn’t go alongside Max, even though he might get an offer to do that. So Ferrari for Lando would be mega, wouldn’t it? It’d be great for all of us actually, we’d love it. I imagine Pierre Gasly is also thinking that way. He’s thinking, ‘there could be a chance at Ferrari and I want to be in that position to get that.’ Those are the two, I think.” – Peter Windsor concluded.
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