Sergio Perez’s contract with Red Bull will come to an end with the culmination of the 2024 season. With doubts looming over Perez’s future and rising tensions between Verstappen and him, the Milton Keynes-based outfit might be looking to offer their second seat to a driver that can present more of a challenge to Verstappen on the track. If given a choice between potential candidates Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull’s chief advisor, Helmut Marko, would choose the former as he labels the seven-time world champion a ‘problem,’ according to reports from Motorsport-Magazin.com.
Today most people consider only Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris as worthy challengers to Max Verstappen. While Hamilton has had a legacy that will long be remembered in F1, Norris has shown immense talent and is often touted to be the torch-bearer of F1 in years to come.
Taking this and several other factors into account, Marko has a basis for adjudicating which driver would best suit his team’s needs.
Helmut Marko prefers Lando Norris over ‘problematic’ Lewis Hamilton
Given Sergio Perez’s uncertain future at Red Bull, the team’s top ranks have been busy looking at potential alternatives to bring in should the Mexican leave. With Hamilton and Norris emerging as frontrunners for the same, Marko says he would choose to bring the McLaren driver on board.
“With Norris, because with Hamilton I have more trouble. It is well known that there was friction between Hamilton and Verstappen. A harmonious team would therefore be difficult to imagine with both.”
Marko also added the Norris/Verstappen pairing would make a great team for television and journalists. According to him, both drivers would continue to develop at the same pace, which could make for an interesting title race when the time comes.
The Norris/Verstappen team might not be easy to manage for Red Bull
While Marko believes the pairing will be a great match-up on screen, he is also wary of it becoming a tough challenge for the team’s leaders. The 80-year-old says that the team prefers to have a hierarchy in place, which confirms who the fastest driver in the team will be. If they sport two big names in their lineup, both drivers might focus on themselves rather than the team, much like Senna and Prost did.
Max Verstappen says he has been impressed with #McLaren and Lando Norris 🤝
“First of all, I think it’s quite incredible to see where they were in Bahrain and where they are now, McLaren. But I think Lando has done extremely well…”#F1 #Formula1 #RedBull #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/ukKs6kbzUN
— McLaren F1 News 🏴🇦🇺 (@TheMcLarenZone) August 11, 2023
Red Bull’s current second driver plays right into their current strategy. He stands in second place in the driver’s championship, 125 points behind Verstappen. The situation both asserts Red Bull’s dominance over their competition and also provides for a comfortable situation involving their star Dutchman. The Mexican’s performances also contributes to the Milton Keynes-based team enjoying first place in the constructor’s championship.
Only time will tell whether Red Bull will choose to play it safe and continue with Perez as their second driver or go for someone new to present a challenge to the dominant Verstappen.
