Lando Norris lands 'don't care' verdict over key Max Verstappen issue

Lando Norris insists he does not "care" whether Max Verstappen stays at Red Bull or departs for a different F1 team.

The Dutchman's existing links to Mercedes have intensified considerably over the past week, after George Russell confirmed his team was talking to the four-time F1 drivers' champion.

Those remarks quickly engulfed the F1 paddock at the Austrian Grand Prix, with Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and Verstappen himself suddenly under the spotlight.

The Red Bull driver has maintained he will be the architect of his own destiny, but it is unclear which way he is leaning at present.

There is believed to be a clause in his contract that stipulates he can leave the Milton Keynes-based squad if he finds himself outside the top three in the drivers' standings at the summer break.

Russell, the driver currently in fourth and just nine points behind Verstappen, is the person who stands to lose out the most.

He is out of contract with the Brackley team at the end of the season and his own extension talks have stalled due to the conversations Toto Wolff is now having with Verstappen.

The media storm surrounding the issue looks set to continue at the British Grand Prix this weekend.

However, Norris, who went toe-to-toe with Verstappen in the title hunt last term is unbothered by whatever career moves his friend and rival does or does not make.

"No, I don't really care, to be honest," the seven-time grand prix winner told Sky Sports F1 at the McLaren Racing Live event in London.

"I don't care where he goes, but I appreciate Max as a competitor, and I get tough... but I do enjoy our battles together.

"And, like he said, he's the boss of where he decides to go and then he'll decide to go wherever he thinks is best."