Helmut Marko Comments On the Reality of a Lando Norris Move to Red Bull

Red Bull Racing has been the talk of a variety of issues this season across the internet. Tts no surprise that there is a gossip spreading like wildfire. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) has had a both productive but alos underwhelming season thus far in 2023. Despite still holding second place in the drivers championship race the talks never seems to end regarding Perez and his future at Red Bull. The latest rumor links Lando Norris (McLaren) to the frenzy. From a logistical stand point such a move wouldn’t be possible without some level of contract buyout/penalty. Currently Norris is contracted with McLaren through the 2025 season. Perez is only contracted through 2024. This leaves a one year gap between free agency for the two drivers which makes it unlikely that Norris was ever a real candidate for a Red Bull move.

Helmut Marko, Advisor for Red Bull Racing contributed to the controversy by stating, “Having Verstappen and Norris on the same team would be perfect for fans, as well as for television and all journalists. Of course, for the success of the team, we want to win the World Cup and the best thing for this is to have a clear hierarchy. You have to be clear, I don’t want to say the first driver, but know who is the fastest driver.”

Do Red Bull Need a Change?

Makro has had mixed feelings on Sergio Perez and his stent with Red Bull. From the outside in one might wonder what more they could be looking for. Currently they hold first and second in the drivers championship and a commanding lead in the constructors. The points advantage at this point of the season has prompted discussions on whether Red Bull needs to continue anymore development on this years car. When the championship is eventually statically won Red Bull could theoretically focus all efforts on the 2024 car which would give them a hefty advantage in development ahead of their competitors.

At this point this is all speculation. It’s clear that there are no official talks of Lando Norris making a move for Red Bull. Quite honestly Red Bull have a well oiled machine that is working perfectly in terms of team outcomes. Why would they change that? We call this speculation rubbish.

Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez seemingly had himself setup for the season of his career at the beginning of the 2023 campaign. However, he has gone through a rough patch this year from Monaco to the British Grand Prix. In any normal circumstance one might say he would be fine but his teammate Max Verstappen has been completely dominant this season. Verstappen has won 8 races in a row and has shown no signs of slowing down.

While Perez has improve in form recently it may be too little too late. Team principal Christian Horner stated the following to F1.com: “I think he’ll take a lot of confidence from this performance. He qualified on the front row, he led the Grand Prix, he finished second, so yeah, he goes into the break a clear second in the drivers’ championship and he’ll take some confidence out of that.”

Horner Continued on Perez and His Championship Race

“I think Checo knows that, barring a disaster for Max, this championship is out of reach, so it’s about him maximizing his own performance, not losing out to any of the drivers behind and trying to pick up a few wins between now and the end of the year.” Max currently leads the championship by 125 points. A margin equivalent to 5 race wins without fastest lap. To say the championship is still within grasps for Perez would take some catastrophic finishes from the reigning champion. Statistically, Verstappen could seal the championship as soon as Singapore. If at the time Verstappen has at least a 207 point lead over second place no one would be able to catch him.

While this is speculative. It’s not entirely unreasonable to believe. Verstappen has won all but two races this season and there is no indication that he has fallen off of form. If he keeps winning the championship will be called long before the final race of the season.

Red Bull Racing has won every race in the 2023 season. Max Verstappen made it 8 wins in a row and 10 overall in his 2023 campaign which has all but sealed his path to the drivers championship. Verstappen started from P6 due to a 5 place grid penalty after securing pole position. The penalty proved to be futile and Verstappen did what he does best; win.

Verstappen was elated with the vistory stating, ““I knew that we had a great car, it was just all about surviving Turn 1,” said Verstappen. “I could see it was all getting pretty tight. I’ve been in that position before myself, so I was just like, ‘I’m going to stay out of that’, so it worked out. I think we all made the right overtakes, moves, I just got a little bit stuck in the beginning in a DRS train. Once that [was] clear I could do my own pace. Again, really enjoyable!”

Teammate Sergio Perez bounced back after a disappointing last 5 races. Perez had struggled with making into Q3 in the last few races. However, he would not be denied at the Belgian Grand Prix. Perez crashed out of the Sprint Race and thus tensions in the garage were high. However, the best response is to bounce back and he helped deliver Red Bull near maximum points on the weekend. Verstappen sits 125 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in the drivers championship. Red Bull sits 256 points ahead of Mercedes.

Perez Praised his Teammate’s Success

Perez stated the following to F1.com after the race, “There’s nothing to be taken away from Max, certainly. He did a tremendous a race, and he’s done a tremendous season…the gap looked bigger today, because we had to make sure we brought it home once the result was settled. But certainly he’s done a tremendous job, he’s very talented, around his team they’re getting the maximum out of the weekends, weekend after weekend, which is really impressive.”

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) snatched away the fastest lap from the Red Bulls to accompany his P4 finish in the race. Charles Leclerc also returned to form claiming his 3rd podium of the year for Ferrari.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Aston Martin secured yet another double points finish in their quest to overtake Mercedes again in the constructors championship. At McLaren Lando Norris had a very disappointing race that eliminated his chances at three podiums in a row. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri made contact with the wall into turn 1 on lap 1 after Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) closed the door on Piastri leaving Piastri no where to go which resulted in the contact. No action was taken by the stewards and both cars were forced into retirement. Sainz stated the following, “I was on the attack with Lewis and I think I pretty much had the move done into Turn 1, made the apex cleanly and everything, but unfortunately I think Oscar was trying to do a bit of an optimistic move on me.”

Intermittent light rain triggered a variety of tire strategies across the grid. Some opting for longer stints than others. The majority pitted for intermediates as the rain picked up in intensity and then quickly went away triggering a frenzy int he pit lane to get the cars back on slicks. Due to the number of pit stops the margins between cars started to increase. Surprisingly there we no other major on track incidents for the remainder of the race and the Red Bulls sailed away to take the win.

Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint from Pole position. The wet race prompted various strategy calls form the team. Red Bull seemed to be on the wrong side of the strategy calls in the early stages of the sprint race. Verstappen lost position to Lando Norris’ McLaren. However, Max Verstappen fought back to retake the lead after Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) crashed out of the race triggering a safety car.

Due to the conditions race control mandated full wet tires to be used by all drivers. Almost immediately Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri), Alex Albon (Williams), Lance Stroll (McLaren), Valtteri Bottas (Alpha Romeo) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) all pitted to opt for intermediates. Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and George Russell (Mercedes) all stayed out on full wets until they completed one lap.

Red Bull’s Verstappen Spoke to the Media After the Race

Verstappen started to gain on Norris and it appeared that Norris was suffering form some premature tire degradation. After the race Verstappen commented on strategy, “I think [staying out on wets at the start] was just a safer call. I could come in first, but then I might be blocked by other cars. There might be a Safety Car and then you lose out massively. I didn’t to stay out, we lost one position, but we know that we are quick. I think you could see that when we put the inter tires on we were flying, so it was OK!”

Lewis Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Perez and dropped to seventh. Perez did not finish the race. In the end Oscar Piastri finished P2 ahead of Pierre Gasly in an unexpected podium for the Belgian Sprint Race. The Grand Prix is tomorrow and there is mixed weather on the forecast.

Full Sprint Race Results are Below

The rain continued to fall at Spa Franchorchamps during the Sprint Shootout. The drivers took to the track despite early rumors that the Belgian Grand Prix could be cancelled due to safety concerns. The session had mixed conditions. Max Verstappen finished his pole claiming lap with just 4 seconds left on the clock for the session. He set a 1m 49.056s which was 0.011 seconds faster than Oscar Piastri who’s McLaren has come to life in the last few race weekends.

Verstappen stated the following to F1.com, “It was good enough. Just tricky conditions, you don’t want to make big mistakes so I think the lap was okay – I just didn’t risk too much in the second sector where it was still a bit damp, and it was just enough for first so that’s good. If it’s going to be wet, dry, also if it’s wet, how you’re going to survive with the wet tires or the intermediates. So a lot of question marks still but we’ll figure it out along the way.”

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) claimed third place ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth. Lando Norris finished fifth to round out the top 5. The Sprint race will take place later today and will be the first opportunity of the weekend to score championship points.

Elsewhere on the Grid

It was a nightmare of a qualifying for the Aston Martins as both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to make it to Q3 and finished behind both Williams cars. Lance Stroll crashed out of Q2 and Alsonso did not start the session.

Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) once again out qualified his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. His pace appears to be improving as he gets more acclimated with the car. Second place driver’s championship sitter Sergio Perez has his work cut out for him as he will start from P8. Perez finished nine tenths behind his teammate Verstappen. Below are the results from the shootout that will set the grid for the sprint race later this afternoon.

2023 Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Shootout Results

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished on pole but has been handed a 5 place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix after fitting a fifth gear box. This is one gear box over the season limit for each car on the grid. The penalty will apply to Sunday’s race. Despite running fastest in Q3 Verstappen would be demoted to P6 after the penalty. This allowed Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) to inherit pole for the Grand Prix. Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez moved up to P2 due to the penalty.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Oscar Piastri also benefitted from the Verstappen penalty and will start in the top 5 on Sunday. The starting grid order is below

Belgian Grand Prix Starting Grid, Leclerc on Pole

1. Charles Leclerc (16), Ferrari
2. Sergio Perez (11), Red Bull-Honda RBPT
3. Lewis Hamilton (44), Mercedes
4. Carlos Sainz (55), Ferrari
5. Oscar Piastri (81), McLaren-Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen (1), Red Bull-Honda RBPT
7. Lando Norris (4), McLaren-Mercedes
8. George Russell (63), Mercedes
9. Fernando Alonso (14), Aston Martin-Mercedes
10. Lance Stroll (18), Aston Martin-Mercedes
11. Yuki Tsunoda (22), AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
12. Pierre Gasly (10), Alpine-Renault
13. Kevin Magnussen (20), Haas-Ferrari
14. Valtteri Bottas (77), Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
15. Esteban Ocon (31), Alpine-Renault
16. Alexander Albon (23), Williams-Mercedes
17. Zhou Guanyu (24), Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
18. Logan Sargeant (2), Williams-Mercedes
19. Daniel Ricciardo (3), AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
20. Nico Hulkenberg, (27), Haas-Ferrari

Belgian Grand Prix TV/streaming schedule

All times are EST

Friday
7:25 – 8:30 a.m.: Free practice 1 (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)
10:55 a.m. – Noon: Qualifying (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)

Saturday
6:25 – 7:30 a.m.: Sprint shootout (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)
10:25 – 11:30 a.m.: Sprint (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)

Sunday
7:30 – 8:55 a.m.: Pre-race show (ESPN)
8:55 – 11 a.m.: Belgian Grand Prix (ESPN, F1 TV Pro)

Tomorrow morning is the Sprint Shootout to determine the grid for the Sprint Race.

Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend in dominant fashion. Verstappen blazed past the checkered flag ahead of Lando Norris by a whopping 33.731 seconds; a margin large enough for almost 1.5 pit stops at Hungaroring. The win also marked Verstappen’s 44th career win and the 250th podium for Red Bull Racing. It was also the 12th win in a row for Red Bull Racing. Lando Norris was second for the second race in a row. This marked the first time he has had consecutive podiums in F1.

Verstappen checked out at the front but behind there were multiple developments. Verstappen stated the following to F1.com after the race, “For the team, 12 wins in a row is just incredible. What we’ve been doing for the last two years has been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time. Also, just to work with the whole team is very enjoyable. It’s always good to look into [what happened in qualifying] yesterday, for example, to keep pushing, always wanting to do better, but days like this are just perfect.”

Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez received driver of the day after starting P9 and finishing P3. In the final 20 laps it seemed as thought Perez might catch Norris. Norris was clearly suffering from some tire degradation and his pace began to fall off. However in the last 10 laps Perez fell off of attacking pace and Norris was able to hang on to P2.

Elsewhere on the Grid

The earliest was a double DNF by Alpine Drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly on lap 1 of the race. The two were involved in a back of the grid scuffle that resulted in catastrophic failures on both cars. Zhou Gunayu was penalized for putting other drivers in danger per Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2d of the FUA International Sporting Code. Zhou had an incredible qualifying and unfortunately that success was wiped away by the penalty at the very beginning of the race.

The struggles do not appear to be subsiding for the Ferraris. Charles Leclerc was hit with a 5 second grid penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The penalty lost him P6 and he settled for P7. Teammate Carlos Sainz despite the penalty could not amount an attack and ended up settling for P8 in the grand prix. While both Ferraris finished in the points it is a long way away from their winning ways over the past 3 years. While multiple teams seem to have jumped forward with mid season upgrades. Ferrari did not appear to have any new flair this weekend in performance. Time will tell if the Ferrari camp can bounce back as we approach the mid season break.

Lewis Hamilton Loses out on Pole Advantage

Lewis Hamilton had hoped for a better result after securing pole for the 70 lap race in Hungary. However the Brit settled for P4 after a late charge they may have seen him compete for P3 if the race had a few extra laps at the end. All in all Hamilton was able to make up some lost time so Mercedes will evaluate and make changes based on how they stacked up.

Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri Debut

Daniel Ricciardo started his first race with his new post at Alpha Tauri. While Ricciardo did not score points he finished ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda. As Ricciardo gets more acclimated with the car we expect his pace to improve as we move into the second half of the season.

Verstappen extended his champion lead over teammate Sergio Perez to 110 points. Perez sits in second 32 points ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). For more exlcusive content be sure to visit F1.com

Lewis Hamilton Secures pole position in Hungary during qualifying today. The performance came in a dramatic set of qualifying sessions. Hamilton beat out Max Verstappen (Red Bull) by a margin of 0.003 seconds. The finish was Hamilton’s first pole position of the year and a record ninth at the Hungaroring. Hamilton set the lap on the very last lap of the session. All other cars had already completed their final lap and it came down to the wire. Hamilton stated the following to F1.com. “It’s been a crazy year and half, so I’ve lost my voice from shouting so much in the car. It’s amazing that feeling, I feel so grateful to be up here, because the team have worked so hard. We’ve been pushing so hard over this time, so to finally get a pole, it feels like the first time. I didn’t expect coming today that we would be fighting for pole. So, when I went into that last run, I gave it absolutely everything. There was nothing left in it.”

McLaren showed massive improvement securing a P3 and P4 finish in Q3 to lock out the second row. it is clear that the upgrades that McLaren brought to Hungary are working. In surprising fashion the Alpha Romeo of Guan Zhou Yu finished 5th fastest. It appears that the Alpha’s are making strides in the performance department. We will see if they can carry this early success into a result on race day.

Sergio Perez has finally returns to Q3 after missing out on Q3 in the last 5 races. He finished P9 well behing his teammate in P2 however we know that Perez is a master of overtaking and track position defense. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back tomorrow. Elsewhere on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) qualified P13 in his debut ahead of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda who finished P17. It is great to see Ricciardo jump back into action and compete. We will see if he can use this new found confidence to score points for Alpha Tauri for tomorrow.

Full Qualifying Results are Below

Charles Leclerc led FP2 in dry conditions after the rain fell in FP1. The majority of the drivers did not go all out this session for race pace. Instead they appeared to be montioring tire management more closely. This is in part due to changes associated with the tire allocation for each session this weekend.

Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola stated to F1.com, “The Hungarian Grand Prix has become a classic event of the Formula 1 summer season, and as such the air and asphalt temperatures, which are usually very high, are the main features. This puts the drivers, cars and tires to the test, not least because the twisting nature of the track does not allow anyone or anything to catch their breath.”

“With so many slow corners, traction is one of the key factors for good performance and the biggest risk is tire overheating. Despite being a permanent track, the Hungaroring is not used very often, and the asphalt conditions improve considerably during the weekend as the ideal racing line rubbers in.”

Isola Continued Regarding Trends at the Hungaroring

“Usually, this race is all about strategy and tire degradation. This year we have opted for a trio of softer compounds compared to 2022, while a new tire allocation for qualifying will be tried out for the first time, with the obligation to use just the hard in Q1, medium in Q2 and soft in Q3 if conditions stay dry. Both these changes, at least on paper, should lead to a wider range of options, particularly in terms of strategy. The [Alternative Tire Allocation] also saves two sets of dry tires compared to the traditional format and it will be run again at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. After that, the FIA, F1 and the teams will decide whether or not to adopt it for next season.”

We expect pace to pick up in FP3 ahead of qualifying. All of the drivers will likely be on soft tires to test out their qualifying programs. With front runners Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez we look to tomorrow for the fastest lap times before qualifying. We will report on qualifying results tomorrow.

The F1 Championship lands in Budapest, Hungary for round 12 of the season. The Hungaroring is a 2.722 mile long course that will host a 70 lap race. Over the years the races at the Hungaroring have been action packed and filled with ever changing team strategy calls. This weekend also marks a return of a familiar face. Daniel Ricciardo will start his stent with AlphaTauri this weekend. Ricciardo who is the reserve driver at Red Bull took the seat from Nyck De Vries. De Vries had not performed at the level the team expected in the first 11 rounds of the season.

Ricciardo’s return sparked a frenzy across the internet and fans are excited to see Ricciardo grid up again in F1. Ricciardo is naturally ecstatic about his return, “It’s good, it’s really good!” Ricciardo said to F1.com. “I enjoyed this… Call it six months off – I think it was really good for me. But the more races I started to attend, the more sim I started to do, I was certainly getting the bug back, so to speak. Then jumping into the car a few days ago, I was like, ‘Oh yeah!’, it all felt very normal. It was one of those ones, the very first lap, ‘Oh, this is fast!’, then within a few it’s, ‘OK, I want to go faster now!’, so it was really good.”

Ricciardo Continued

“Getting back to Red Bull and just kind of the reception I had walking back into that team was really kind of, in a positive way, a little bit overwhelming. Then getting back on the sim, I was still a bit unsure how it was going to go, if the car would feel like it used to, if I was going to be, for the lack of better words, like the old me. Once I’d done a few sim sessions and started feeling like myself again, it then just kind of brought me back to normal Daniel, where I was falling back in love and ready to go again.”

In an interview with F1.com, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner stated, “He [Ricciardo] firmly wants to be pitching for that 2025 Red Bull seat – that’s his objective. By going to AlphaTauri, I think he sees that as his best route of stating his case for 2025.”

The move was welcomed by AlphaTauri fans. The team sits at the bottom of the table with just 2 points to its name. If there was an opportunity for Ricciardo to make a statement. That opportunity would be finishing in the points this weekend in Hungary. The honey badger is back!