Zak Brown worried Lando Norris could replace two drivers including Mercedes star | F1 | Sport

Norris was one of the standout performers on the F1 grid last season, standing on the podium on seven occasions with six of those coming on the second step. The 24-year-old stepped into the team leader role admirably, keeping a calm head during the difficult early stage of the campaign, during which McLaren were languishing at the back of the field. 

This patience paid off as McLaren began to take greater and greater strides in the development race. Despite arriving in Bahrain with the slowest car of all ten teams, the Woking-based outfit ended the season with a fourth-place Constructors’ Championship finish, aided greatly by Norris’ 205-point haul.

Speaking to Speedcafe about Norris’ future, Brown explained: “There are a lot of priorities, and certainly with Lando we’ve got some time, but he is a driver that everybody up and down the pit lane wants. How much longer is Lewis going? What are Mercedes going to do?

“How much longer has Sergio got [at Red Bull]? For sure, the three other big teams probably don’t have visibility as to their driver line-up beyond ’25. And I think with how Lando has performed, he would be top of everyone’s list.”

While Mercedes’ need for a Hamilton replacement will depend on how content the 39-year-old is with their 2024 and 2025 challengers, Red Bull’s interest in Norris is likely to be both more concrete and more pressing.

Perez’s contract is set to expire at the end of the 2024 campaign and he is expected to depart at the conclusion of that deal unless the dramatic gulf in both performance level and points tallies between himself and team-mate Max Verstappen is significantly reduced.

Helmut Marko and Christian Horner are both known admirers of Norris having made public declarations of interest last season. With the McLaren star contracted until 2025, they will have to buy him out of his current deal if they intend to sign him as Perez’s successor.

Thankfully for Brown, McLaren are in little danger of losing their other key asset, after tieing Oscar Piastri down to a contract that will keep him with the team until the end of the 2026 season. The young Australian enjoyed a stellar rookie season, marking him as a potential future world champion in the making.