Helmut Marko puts forward another driver ‘best suited’ to Red Bull

Fresh from praising former driver Alex Albon, Helmut Marko has created another stir in the driver market by suggesting Lando Norris would be a perfect fit for Red Bull.

Albon and Norris were two of the stand-out performers at the British Grand Prix where the Williams driver brought his car home in eighth place having held off Charles Leclerc in the final stint while Norris bagged a podium result.

The Briton, who started second and got the jump on Max Verstappen off the line to lead the first few laps, was runner-up at his home race as he crossed the line ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Norris was made to work for that P2 as a late Safety Car restart saw him lapping on hard tyres while Hamilton in the Mercedes was on the softs. Norris’ defending stood firm with the 23-year-old eventually breaking the DRS tow to finish three seconds ahead of seven-time World Champion Hamilton.

His performance, which came on the back of his P4 at the Austrian Grand Prix, caught the attention of Red Bull with Marko reportedly holding “intensive talks” with the McLaren driver’s manager Mark Berryman.

The move, though, wouldn’t happen before 2026 with Norris under a long-term contract with McLaren and one that Zak Brown has no intension of cutting short.

Marko acknowledged this to Kleine Zeitung.

“He has a contract with McLaren until 2025, but he is by far the strongest of the young drivers. His youthful nature would also suit him best to Red Bull,” he said.

“And it’s no secret that Max and he are good friends.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also commented on Verstappen’s friendship with Norris, telling Sports Illustrated after the Silverstone race: “You can see he enjoyed racing Lando.

PlanetF1.com recommends

F1 driver contracts: What is the current contract status of every driver on the 2023 grid?

F1 2023: Head-to-head qualifying and race stats between team-mates

“I had all the drivers for a barbecue at my house last night, and you see they go straight into talking about moments on track and their eyes light up about what happened here or there or even in Formula 3 or karting.”

But while Red Bull have made no bones about searching for Sergio Perez’s replacement, Marko says for the rest of this season the driver is definitely safe.

Although Perez has struggled to get into Q3 in recent weeks with his last top-ten qualifying position being his pole position in Miami, his 156 points means he is still holding down second place in the Drivers’ Championship.

And that, Marko says, is enough to guarantee him his seat until the end of the season.

“We really want to finish second in the Drivers’ Championship too. If we change drivers, the points are gone, so for us it’s not even an issue,” said the 80-year-old.

Read next: Alex Albon to Red Bull rumours continue following praise from another key figure