Red Bull confirms interest in Lando Norris prior to his long-term McLaren deal

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has confirmed that McLaren driver Lando Norris was approached on a few occasions over potentially joining the Milton Keynes-based team.

Max Verstappen was signed by Red Bull in 2016 to go on to become their lead driver. But after Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018 to join Renault, now Alpine, it became a struggle for the team to find a decent replacement for the departing Australian.

In 2019, Pierre Gasly lasted a half-season at Red Bull before Alex Albon was promoted to partner Verstappen, but he also did not last following two crashes with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in Brazil and then in Austria the following year. He was also dropped after one and a half seasons.

Albon was then replaced by Sergio Perez in 2021, who proved to be the ideal partner for Verstappen, helping him claim his first Formula 1 World Championship last year.

Following consistently strong performances, Mexican driver Perez secured a new Red Bull deal until 2024, while Verstappen is contracted until 2028, becoming the 2022 F1 champion this year. There are two races of the season remaining in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

No heavy talks

In an interview prior to the Mexican Grand Prix, Norris admitted to having talks with Red Bull at one stage, saying: "It wasn't like we were talking heavily.

"Everyone tries to speak to all of the teams at some point, so I spoke to them. I spoke to a few other people. But a chat's a chat. It's not like 'What can we do?' straight away.

"Just keeping in touch and things like that. It's as simple as that sometimes," Norris explained.

"But it was just coming to the end of the contract when you select what options are available, you find out what is possible, what might be possible over the next few years.

"It wasn't