Lando Norris statement speaks volumes amid McLaren to Red Bull F1 switch rumours

Lando Norris’ statement speaks volumes amid rumors of McLaren moving to Red Bull F1.McLaren star Lando Norris is close friends with Max Verstappen and has been regularly linked with Sergio Perez’s replacement becoming his Red Bull team-mate.Lando Norris is ‘thrilled’ to start the 2024 Formula 1 season with McLaren amid rumors of a move to Red Bull.Norris spent his entire career with McLaren after moving to the British team. The 24-year-old finished sixth in the 2023 season and recorded seven podiums for McLaren, improving in the second half of the championship.Despite his loyalty to McLaren, he has been regularly linked with Red Bull considering a second-place option to support Max Verstappen. Serio Perez finished second in the championship but finished with less than half of Verstappen’s points, sparking speculation that Norris could be his successor.Norris has had enough of the rumours, attacking a journalist who called Verstappen his F1 “BFF” and saying the Briton is focused on making the best possible start to the 2024 season with McLaren. “I’m really excited,” she said. “If we had started the season with the same updates as mid-2023, we would have finished second in the Constructors’ Championship and second in the Drivers’ Championship. “I know it doesn’t always work that way. But we are on the right track. That’s what I wanted to say. We have a new employee. The boys will be coming in 24. So we may not have everything they can put in our car at once. But here’s what we do know:”I’ve learned a lot from what I’ve accomplished in the last four, five, six months. I am very happy because we are on the right track and we know which way to go. I want to start the season well. “I think I will be more motivated if I start well in Bahrain,” he said.He added: “If we want to overtake Mercedes, if we want to overtake Ferrari in terms of speed… we are two years behind them, but they haven’t taken a step forward and we have made great progress. We know there are a lot of areas we can improve as we move forward. It’s a great time for us. “There are still a few pieces of the puzzle left to put together, but we found the most important piece. I’m proud of the whole team because we know where we need to go. If we were in Bahrain now and we were looking into the future, we would be afraid of the season. “So we didn’t expect to get seven podiums and all the great times we had.”Norris’ contract with McLaren expires at the end of 2025, having signed a new contract in February 2022, but Alex Albon has proposed a move to Red Bull before it expires. “If he wants to, he’ll do it,” he told Sky Sports in October. “But let’s see. Because I don’t think anyone would want to be on Max’s team. It’s hard. I have experience.”