It is a well-known fact by now that Red Bull attempted to sign Lando Norris at least twice and on both occasions, the Briton rejected them. In hindsight, this seems to have been the best career decision the 25-year-old ever made with McLaren winning the Constructors’ Championship last season and Red Bull dropping the ball massively.
The first time Norris rejected Red Bull was in 2022, explaining how he felt he was more likely to achieve his goals at McLaren. At the time, it seemed that Norris made a terrible decision as Verstappen and Red Bull dominated both championships in both 2022 and 2023.
So, Norris felt much more tempted to sign for the Milton Keynes-based outfit at the start of 2024 when even the top brass of Red Bull tempted him to ditch McLaren. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko had claimed last season that if Norris wants to win faster, then he must move to Milton Keynes.
Who can blame Marko for making such a statement after Red Bull won a record 21 out of the 22 races in 2023? But it was not enough to convince Norris. The Briton gave two reasons for rejecting Red Bull for a second time.
First, he was confident that McLaren could provide him with a title-winning car, and second, he did not think it was wise to drive in the same team as Max Verstappen since the Dutchman had built the team around him. So, with Norris rejecting Red Bull for the second time, Christian Horner has moved his focus to the Briton’s teammate, Oscar Piastri.
In episode six of Drive to Survive — Wheels of Fortune — Horner was asked if he could sign one of the McLaren drivers, then who would it be? Without any hesitation, the 51-year-old replied Piastri.
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The question that Horner‘s remarks raise is whether he showed interest in the Australian to spite Norris for rejecting Red Bull or was he actually interested in the Melbourne-born driver.
Horner has always been impressed by Piastri
As proud as Horner is to have signed a young Verstappen, he regrets not being able to pull off a similar move for Piastri. “There was an opportunity for Red Bull to look at him at the time and we didn’t take up that option, which is something that I regret,” the British boss said on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast back in 2022.
️ | Eddie Jordan has suggested Oscar Piastri as a Red Bull driver in the future
“Do not be surprised if there’s a seat available at Red Bull, of course where Mark used to be, don’t be surprised if he [Piastri] is named in front of the public eye in the future.” pic.twitter.com/YwGz5ycHze
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 25, 2023
At that time, Piastri had not even driven an F1 race and it was just his wins in F3 and F2 in consecutive seasons that convinced Horner that the Australian was destined for success.
Winning both the junior formulas in consecutive seasons is no mean feat as only three other drivers have done so to date and all three of them — George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Gabriel Bortoleto — are on the 2025 grid.
With Red Bull missing out on Piastri, Alpine made the most of the opportunity and signed him as a reserve driver in 2022, a year after he won the F2 title. However, with the French team not willing to offer the young Australian a seat in 2023, McLaren took advantage of the opportunity and signed him in controversial circumstances.
