Lando Norris
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Lando Norris found himself at the centre of the Formula 1 driver market at the Austrian Grand Prix as McLaren were linked with signing Max Verstappen.
Verstappen’s camp held talks with McLaren over the weekend at the Red Bull Ring as the Dutchman weighs up his options for 2027. He is free to leave Red Bull in 2026, and the consensus is that Norris would keep his seat over Oscar Piastri.
Since joining F1 in 2019, Norris has had three teammates at McLaren – Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Piastri. Winning the title in 2025, he has never had a world champion next to him in the garage, and he would be open to having one.
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Lando Norris would ‘love’ to be teammates with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso
The general feeling is that Verstappen will stay at Red Bull in 2027 and there will be no changes at McLaren. The team have constantly stressed that they are happy with their current pairing.
Zak Brown and Andrea Stella would sign Verstappen in a third car, highlighting their intentions to keep Norris and Piastri. The former was asked about the rumours, and he could only laugh at the speculation.
He told BBC Sport: “There’s always rumours. There’s always things up in the air. But I know that we both have our names penned in at McLaren for much longer. So it’s always funny seeing things come up when you’re questioning how it’s even possible.”
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The 2025 champion then admitted that he would be open to having Verstappen as his teammate, and even stated that he would ‘love’ to race next to Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
“I welcome anyone as a teammate. Of course, Max is, alongside Lewis and Fernando – world champions, I would say – he’s alongside some of the best.
“You always want to try and prove yourself against the best. And the best way to prove yourself against the best is to have them as your team-mate. So I’m very open to anyone being my teammate, honestly.
“I would love Max to be my teammate. I would love if Lewis was my teammate. I would love if Fernando was my teammate. But I also like Oscar as a team-mate. You know, he’s honestly an unbelievable driver. I have a very strong team-mate that pushes me.”
If you had an F1 team with three cars, which three drivers would you sign?
Norris named Hamilton and Alonso among his favourite F1 drivers, having grown up watching them. Now, he fights alongside them, as well as Verstappen, who finished just two points behind him in 2025.
Asked if Verstappen would have to change his style at McLaren if he were to join, Norris added: “It would certainly be a different vibe for him.
“Philosophies and mentalities are certainly different between what Red Bull are and what we are. And there’s certain things that he would not be able to do at McLaren that he feels like he can do in Red Bull.”
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