Ferrari eyeing potential move for 24-year-old F1 driver when his contract expires

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Ferrari are starting to think about their driver line-up for the foreseeable future and are considering a move for McLaren driver Lando Norris when his contract expires.

A report from Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport has shared more details about the thought process within Frederic Vasseur’s outfit right now.

The 2024 Formula 1 season will be the first in living memory where every team has retained the same driver lineup.

Williams waited until last week to confirm that Logan Sargeant would be continuing with the team.

It’s meant that no new drivers will be given their opportunity on the grid but that might not be the case next year.

More than half of the grid see their contracts expire at the end of 2024 but some of the top teams are already looking beyond that.

McLaren would like to tie Lando Norris down to a new contract, but interest from Ferrari might make that more complicated.

The 24-year-old Brit is set to have plenty of options on the table before his contract runs out in 2025.

He’ll know where his future lies before then and it may be a straight shootout between Ferrari and McLaren to see who produces the best car next year to convince him where to commit his future.

Ferrari interested in Norris when his contract expires

The report from Gazzetta dello Sports suggests that Ferrari are looking at Norris with interest when his contract expires in 2025.

They would like to ‘snatch’ him from the Woking-based outfit and bring him in alongside Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari are planning to offer Leclerc a contract that could run until 2029 and having Norris alongside him during that time would make them serious challengers to Red Bull.

Norris does have a bit of a dilemma on his hands here.

He’s clearly fast enough to be challenging the best drivers on the grid for pole positions, race wins and even championships.

However, his contract expires at the worst possible time, with a major rule change set to be introduced in 2026.

Making a long-term commitment to any team – whether that Ferrari, McLaren or someone else – the year before that could leave him stuck with an outfit that don’t quite nail the newest regulations.

It’s something Fernando Alonso suffered with for much of his career and denied him the chance to challenge for more titles.

Norris has to be careful he doesn’t fall into the same trap.