Formula 1: For which top-tier team could Lando Norris end up driving?

Perhaps none of the drivers in Formula 1’s group of rising stars has gone more underappreciated than McLaren rookie Lando Norris. For which top-tier team might he drive in the future?

The 2019 Formula 1 season is not even 10% complete with just two of the 21 races on the schedule having been contested. But it has already been loaded with both admiration of and speculation about several of the sport’s young rising stars.

There has been all kinds of talk about first-year Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc potentially becoming the Italian team’s top driver ahead of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.

There have also been recent rumors about three youngsters, including Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, ROKiT Williams Racing rookie George Russell and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport reserve driver Esteban Ocon potentially driving for Mercedes in the near future.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there has been talk about first-year Red Bull Racing driver Pierre Gasly potentially being replaced by the Milton Keynes-based team before the 2019 season ends, perhaps even in the very near future, due to his struggles early in the season.

But perhaps no young rising star in Formula 1 has gone more underappreciated than McLaren rookie Lando Norris, the youngest driver currently competing in the sport.

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The 19-year-old Briton qualified in eighth place for his first career Formula 1 race, the Australian Grand Prix, before finishing in 12th. He then qualified in ninth for the 2019 season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, before scoring eight points with a sixth place finish.

As a result, he launched himself into a tie for seventh place in the driver standings, where he is tied for second “best of the rest” with Rich Energy Haas’ Kevin Magnussen behind Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Kimi Raikkonen, a 17-year veteran of the sport.

While his rookie season is still in its infancy stage, it’s time to launch Norris into discussions about which top-tier team he may end up driving for in the future.

Perhaps this lack of discussion about Norris up until this point while several other young drivers have been rumored to drive for various top-tier teams in the near future is because of the fact that for Norris as a McLaren driver, there is no clear path for him to ascend to one of the sport’s top three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing.

Of course, these three teams, which have combined to win each of the last 120 Formula 1 races going back more than six years ago, may very well be challenged in the near future, perhaps starting with the 2021 season when the major changes to the rules and regulations are rolled out.

That said, don’t expect these changes to derail whatever plans may be in place for a driver such as Russell or Ocon to be promoted to Mercedes to replace Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas or for Ferrari junior driver Mick Schumacher to be promoted to the Scuderia as Vettel’s replacement, and don’t expect these three teams to suddenly stop contending for race wins and championships (except if they leave Formula 1, which they have all threatened to do).

So for which top-tier team does Norris have the best chance to drive in the near future assuming McLaren don’t join this elite group of teams?

Of these three teams, the answer with how things look right now is Red Bull Racing. Red Bull Racing junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso attempted to lure Norris away from McLaren to replace Brendon Hartley in the middle of the 2018 season, but McLaren blocked this move from being completed.

Norris was rumored to drive for Toro Rosso this season while keeping his ties with McLaren intact before he was confirmed as the Woking-based team’s replacement for Stoffel Vandoorne.

The future driver lineups for Mercedes and Ferrari appear to be pretty well set, at least within a range of potential drivers. Verstappen, Ocon and Russell appear to be the top candidates to drive for the Silver Arrows once Hamilton and Bottas leave, and Schumacher appears slated to replace Vettel and become the teammate to the 21-year-old Leclerc, whose contract runs through at least the 2022 season, at the Prancing Horse with Verstappen lurking as a dark-horse candidate.

Red Bull Racing’s future driver lineup? Not so much.

Not only is Gasly already on the hot seat just two races into his tenure driving for the team, but Verstappen has emerged as one of the candidates to switch to Mercedes (or Ferrari) in the near future, and he could very well do so given the performance clause in his current contract with Red Bull Racing.

Toro Rosso’s two current drivers are Daniil Kvyat and rookie Alexander Albon, two drivers who have been cut by the Red Bull Racing organization in some way, shape or form at least once in the past.

Given the histories of these two drivers with this organization, Toro Rosso’s driver lineup for this season almost seems forced in a way, although both drivers have certainly shown potential through the season’s first two races, especially the 23-year-old rookie.

But it remains no secret who Toro Rosso would have rather signed over both Kvyat and Albon ahead of the 2019 season, and the hot start that this particular driver has had to his rookie season while driving for a team that have had barely any success in recent seasons has given nobody any reason to believe that this has changed.

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Don’t expect Toro Rosso and the Red Bull Racing organization as a whole to sit back and forget about Lando Norris, especially given the fast start that he has had to his Formula 1 career and the uncertainty of their future driver lineup.

Don’t be surprised if Toro Rosso sign him for a season in the very near future and he is then promoted to Red Bull Racing. With all things considered, at this point, don’t be surprised if Red Bull Racing straight-up sign him in the near future if the opportunity arises for them to do so, which it appears as though it might.

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