Ex-Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle insists Lando Norris should be cautious regarding his loyalty to McLaren and “keep options open” amid Red Bull’s interest in him.
Red Bull could potentially be set to change its driver line-up in 2025 in the circumstance where Sergio Perez’s struggles alongside Max Verstappen continue on into next year.
Perez endured a troubled campaign that ended with him 290 points adrift of his World Champion team-mate, who notched a record 19 victories compared to the Mexican’s two.
Earlier this year, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko criticised Perez’s consistency before revealing that Norris was “definitely a candidate” if a vacant seat became available.
Red Bull tried to sign Norris prior to his F1 debut in 2019, while the Briton admitted talks took place with the Austrian camp before he renewed with McLaren until the end of 2025.
Despite the Woking squad’s remarkable turnaround into a regular podium contender this season, Brundle believes Norris, who is still awaiting his first victory in F1, needs to be angling for a maiden championship bid.
Asked if Norris should look to depart McLaren if it fails to deliver in 2024, Brundle wrote in a column on the Sky Sports website: “Whether you’re the team boss or whether you’re the drivers, you have to say, ‘I only have eyes for one team one driver pairing’.
“But it’s a very small business, relatively speaking and your career whizzes past, you’ve got to keep your options open.
“Loyalty pays, especially these days in F1 teams, you can build something together but if he sees another year out without a victory, he’ll have to, and in any event, he should be making sure he’s in the best possible place to win a World Championship.”
However, Brundle is optimistic that McLaren is well poised to provide Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri with a car to compete more against Verstappen and Red Bull.
Having begun the season battling to score points with an undeveloped package, a raft of upgrades in the summer saw the team emerge as Red Bull’s closest challenger.
“They have got a great driver line up and the team seem to be in the ascendancy,” Brundle added.
“I’m not sure the wind tunnel will really be on stream yet for making a big change but they seem to understand their car, every time they brought an update it really moved it forward, which suggests that all their data is matching up with track performance.
“I just think for the sake of all of us, and for F1 and even for Red Bull, to be honest, we need not just McLaren, but Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes and everybody to close the gap.
“So fingers and toes crossed the McLaren and all the other teams can do that.”
