Lando Norris was persistently linked with a move to Red Bull before signing a new McLaren contract

Helmut Marko has claimed McLaren found out and blocked a Lando Norris deal that would have initially seen him race for the Red Bull F1 second team.

Norris first signed up as a McLaren junior in February of 2017 and has gone on to make his Formula 1 breakthrough with the team, debuting in 2019 and now a multi-time grand prix winner. But, how different Norris’ story could have been.

Red Bull had ‘contract ready for Lando Norris’

Rather than McLaren, Norris had an option on the table to make his F1 debut in 2019 as part of the Red Bull junior squad, known as Toro Rosso at the time, that was until McLaren found out what was going on and used a clause to put a stop to it.

“We had serious discussions and we had a contract ready for Lando Norris,” Marko revealed on the Inside Line F1 podcast.

“For AlphaTauri or Toro Rosso at that time.

“And unfortunately they [McLaren] found out. They had two contracts and then one was a clause which stopped this cooperation with Lando Norris.”

Learn more about McLaren F1 2024 title hopeful Lando Norris

In the years which have followed, speculation linking Norris to Red Bull has never been far away, though the situation has changed with McLaren having risen in F1 2024 to become a genuine title challenger to Red Bull.

With eight rounds remaining of the season, McLaren has reduced Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship lead to eight points, while Norris is only 62 behind Red Bull’s Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen.

Norris’ continued show of faith in McLaren saw him questioned at times, especially after he penned a new long-term deal with the team ahead of the F1 2024 season, but Norris is delighted to see that this belief “has turned into something”.

“I love it here,” Norris told Sky F1. “I love McLaren. They brought me into Formula 1, so I owe them a lot.

“I just had a faith and belief that we could do it here. And that faith and belief has turned into something and the fact that it has has made me very happy.”

Norris is bidding to deny Verstappen his fourth successive World Championship, which would see him match Sebastian Vettel’s streak of four in a row with Red Bull between 2010-13.