Formula 1: Multiple teams have approached McLaren about Lando Norris

Multiple teams, not just Scuderia Toro Rosso, have reportedly approached McLaren about signing the team’s 18-year-old reserve driver, Lando Norris.

It was revealed about a week and a half ago that Scuderia Toro Rosso attempted to sign 18-year-old McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris to replace the struggling 28-year-old rookie Brendon Hartley starting in the Austrian Grand Prix, the ninth race of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season, at the Red Bull Racing in Spielberg, Austria on Sunday, July 1.

However, McLaren blocked this deal with the big picture in mind seeing as how there have been rumors that one of the team’s current two drivers, two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, will be leaving the team before the 2019 season and possibly joining IndyCar on a full-time basis, and as a result, Norris will be his replacement in Formula 1.

Plus, the contract of Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren’s other driver, also expires at the end of the 2018 season, so McLaren have no desire to let Norris get away from them and sign with a rival team for beyond the conclusion of the 2018 season. Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso’s parent organization, wanted to do just that.

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However, McLaren revealed earlier this week that they would be willing to look at offers from other Formula 1 teams to get Norris in one of their cars at some point before this season ends to get him driving experience if and only if the deal to get him to do so does not extend beyond the conclusion of the 2018 season.

Since revealing this, the team have revealed that Toro Rosso are not the only team that have attempted to get Norris to sign with them. In fact, they revealed that three teams have done so, although Toro Rosso were the only team named.

Here is what McLaren CEO Zak Brown had to say about the matter, according to Autosport.

"“We’ve been approached by more than one team. We’ve had three approaches, of varying degrees. Some included this year, but we want him to focus on F2, and keep him at McLaren. If we felt it was good for his career, and good for McLaren, then we’d consider it on a case by case basis.“But all of the approaches meant he would have gone away, and we’re not interested in that conversation. That’s non-negotiable. We’re not going to train him up for someone else, but I don’t think anyone else has any interest in training him up for us.“We don’t have any sister teams. It’s not ideal. I think it shows that the FIA needs to look closely into how much influence teams have over other teams, because what they’re starting to do is to close down opportunities for people that are independent.”"

Here is what Red Bull Racing advisor and head of the team’s driver development program Helmut Marko had to say about Toro Rosso’s attempt to sign Norris, according to Autosport.

"“We had discussions, but differently from what was announced by whoever. We are making our negotiations behind closed doors, not in public…With Red Bull you never can say what we are really doing. We are good for surprises!”"

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