Ex-F1 racerKarun Chandhok says McLaren's underperformance may prompt Lando Norris to seeka move to Red Bull or Ferrari. Afterhaving fallen from fourth to fifth in the Constructors' Championship in 2022,McLaren seem to have regressed further in the early stages of 2023. At lastweekend's season opener in Bahrain, Oscar Piastri was the race's first retirementon Lap 16, pulling off with an electrical issue, while Norris was the lastclassified runner in 17th place, after having to pit several times during therace to manage an issue with his MCL60's engine pneumatics. Having signeda contract extension in February 2022, Norris is contracted to McLaren untilthe end of 2025. However, Chandhoksuggested that the Briton might agitate for a move further up the grid, addingthat Norris' contract may contain get-out clauses that could be activated ifthe Woking squad's performance does not improve.
A way out for Norris?
"Itell you who will be thinking about a move to Ferrari or Red Bull though, isyoung Lando Norris," Chandhok told SkySports F1 . "Looking at where they're [McLaren] at, and we were talkingbefore the season of McLaren locking him in and [McLaren CEO] Zak [Brown] doing an amazingjob of contracting him [Norris] in for that four-year period. "I do wonder, and if they're smart they would have createdsome sort of exit clauses. "For example, McLaren don'tfinish in the top four of the Constructors' Championship two years in a row, isthere an option for Lando to look elsewhere? "Because outside of the traditional top three teams, you'vegot Fernando [Alonso] and Lando who are your top two drivers on the grid, aren'tthey? And the fact he [Norris] is fighting to even get a car into Q3, there'sgot to be a bit of frustration there I would imagine."
Norris' McLaren journey
Having debuted in F1 withMcLaren in 2019, Norris scored his first podium in 2020, and followed that up withtwo impressive seasons in which he comfortably outscored teammate Daniel Ricciardo. After finishing a career-best secondbehind Ricciardo at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Norris was desperately unluckynot to take his maiden win at that year's Russian Grand Prix, when a late-racerain shower caught him out while he was leading. However, with McLaren slipping backin competitiveness in 2022, the Briton has not subsequently come close toscoring his first Grand Prix win.
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