Lando Norris admits F1 transfer talks were not ‘solely’ held with Red Bull

Lando Norris has admitted he held talks with other F1 teams ahead of signing a long-term deal with McLaren. Last season, Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealed he had spoken to Norris ahead of the Briton putting pen to paper on a new contract.

However, the McLaren star has now suggested they were not the only team at the table, hinting that teams across the grid are after the 23-year-old’s signature. Despite this, Norris is adamant the talks were more a “general” discussion rather than serious negotiations.

He told Motorsport.com: “First of all, the talks which I said I had with Red Bull are a general thing. Every driver is trying to talk to every team. Not always, though. That’s why I signed such a long contract, so I don’t need to care about any of this for a while.

“But whenever you’re coming to the end of a contract, you always want to have talks with as many people as you can to weigh up your options and know what might be a better path for you.

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“So, it wasn’t solely with Red Bull. It was different talks with different people. ‘What could happen now? What could maybe happen in the future?’ Everyone has those talks.” Horner seemed to suggest his discussions with Norris were more serious than first thought.

The Red Bull boss jokes that Norris had secured his contract extension just hours after the pair spoke. He commented: “We’ve spoken to Lando a couple of times over the years. But every time we’ve had a conversation, the next day he’s signed a contract with McLaren.”

Norris signed a new contract in May 2021 after impressing the British manufacturer. But, he penned a new agreement in February last year which will keep him in the team until the end of 2025.

It was a difficult 2022 for the team who dropped behind Alpine in the Constructors’ Championship. Norris picked up just one podium all season but got the better of experienced team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, finishing ahead of the Australian 17 times.

Norris is still confident McLaren can give him a car capable of challenging at the front of the field. However, he feels the team are still a couple of years off a serious title push as they are still working on their new wind tunnel which is set to open later this year.

He told the German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport: “That will be our first year in which we no longer have any excuses. At the moment, we can still make good excuses. We always look at what we can do better and 2024 will be the first year when we will operate almost at the level of the top teams with our infrastructure. The rest is up to us, the people who work here.”