Lando Norris made his F1 debut in 2019 and has gone on to become one of the sport’s biggest talents. He is yet to win a race in F1, but that has mainly been down to McLaren’s inferior mechanical package.
When Norris joined, McLaren looked like a team on the ascendency. They were in the points on a regular basis, and they also were within a podium shout more often than not. Their progress looked solid on paper, but 2022 saw their performance take a huge dip.
McLaren were locked in a battle with Ferrari for P3 in 2021, which they narrowly lost. However, 2022 saw them slip down to P5 after losing to Alpine which derailed the progress they had been making for all these years. Heading into the 2023 season, McLaren boss Zak Brown admitted that he is realistic enough for his team to aim for P4 and nothing more.
However, for a driver of Norris’ talent, P4 is simply not good enough.
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Lando Norris could be headed to Ferrari to replace Charles Leclerc
Meanwhile at the Ferrari camp, there have been rumors about Charles Leclerc craving a Mercedes seat. Lewis Hamilton’s contract runs out at the end of 2023, and Leclerc may want to join the eight-time World Champions.
In case that happens, the Maranello-based outfit will go ‘all out’ for Norris. This is according to former Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor. He spoke about this on his Twitch stream, and when a fan asked if there could be an ego clash between George Russell and Leclerc, Windsor explained why that won’t matter.
You signed for Ferrari until the end 2024, do you regret not driving for Mercedes?@Charles_Leclerc: “Believe me, never. I still find it hard to get used to the idea of having the Prancing Horse on my racing overalls or clothes. It was a dream, it still is and it will remain.”
— Charles Leclerc Fan Page (@LeclercNews) October 31, 2020
“It would be a mess probably,” he said. “Putting Leclerc with Russell, but if he’s prepared to put Russell with Hamilton. He’s obviously going to be prepared to put him with Charles Leclerc.”
“Let’s assume Leclerc went from Ferrari to Mercedes to replace Lewis, which is not a completely stupid assumption,” he added. “What then would Ferrari do? I think they would go massively all out to get Lando.”
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Leclerc aims to bring Championship glory to Maranello
World Championships have eluded Ferrari for 15 years now. Their last drivers’ champion was Kimi Raikkonen back in 2007 followed by a constructors’ win in 2008. Since then, they have struggled to match up with Red Bull and Mercedes.
Despite starting 2022 on a strong note, they struggled to maintain consistency that led to heartbreak for the Tifosi once again. Heading into the 2023, season, Leclerc will be hoping that Ferrari field a more competitive car and make lesser errors in strategy. This can actually make him convinced about his decision to stay with Ferrari instead of jumping ship to Brackley.
