In the round-up: Lando Norris says his discussions with Red Bull about a possible drive with the team were no more than “a chat”
In brief
Norris: Contract discussions with Red Bull were no more than a “chat”
Lando Norris says his discussions with Red Bull about a possible drive with the team were no more than “a chat”.
Norris signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with McLaren until the end of the 2025 season early this year. After recently revealing he had preliminary talks with Red Bull about a race seat, Norris clarified that they amounted to little more than a casual conversation.
“I spoke to them, I spoke to a few other people,” Norris explained. “But, like, a chat’s a chat. It’s not like, ‘what can we do’ straight away.
“It was just coming to the end of the contract when you just see what options are available. You just kind of find out what might be possible over the next few years. It wasn’t just Red Bull – every driver has chats with a lot of the different teams about what could happen, and simple as that, basically.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that the team has had multiple speculative discussions with Norris over the years about the prospect of racing with his team.
“We’ve spoken to Lando a couple of times over the years, but every time we’ve had a conversation, the next day he signed a contract with McLaren,” Horner said. “He’s on a long-term contract with McLaren and looks like he’s going to be there for a few more years.”
Indy Lights rebranded as ‘Indy NXT’
The IndyCar feeder series Indy Lights has been rebranded as ‘Indy NXT’ as of next season. The championship’s branding refresh is intended to “inspire and relate to Generation Z and young talent.”
The 2023 Indy NXT series will run as originally scheduled, starting off alongside the IndyCar series in St Petersburg on March 5th. This year’s series champion was Linus Lundqvist.
Mini steps up to FIA F3 with Hitech
Formula Regional European Championship runner-up Gabriele Mini will step up to the FIA Formula 3 championship next year with Hitech, the team announced.
The 17-year-old has competed at Formula Regional level the last two years with ART. This season, he took fourth place in the Formula Regional Asian Championship with two race wins, despite missing a round, and came second to Dino Beganovic in the European series with three victories.
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