Christian Horner has said that his team has already received “a lot of interest” in a seat alongside Max Verstappen from the 2025 season and that Red Bull would consider all available options, including those outside its talent pool.

Two-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull for a few more years, but his team-mate Sergio Perez will see his contract expire at the end of the 2024 campaign and a number of candidates have already come forward to replace him.

Horner confirms keeping an eye on Norris

Among the potential candidates to replace Sergio Perez in the event that Red Bull does not wish to continue with the Mexican, current McLaren driver Lando Norris has long been considered the number one choice, even though the British driver is contracted to his team until 2025.

Asked specifically about Lando Norris and whether Red Bull would eventually consider the British driver from 2025, Christian Horner said that the McLaren driver was obviously on the team’s radar along with other drivers.

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“Lando [Norris] is a great driver, he’s a great talent, a great personality, and of course he’s one of the drivers we’re keeping an eye on,” Christian Horner told Sky Sports.

“But there are a lot of drivers we are also keeping an eye on. There is a new generation of drivers at the moment who are hugely talented.”

“Now, being Max’s teammate will never be easy and some drivers may be up for the challenge, others may not. But of course, as well as the drivers we have in-house, we keep an eye on the whole driver market.”

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“As you can imagine, there is a lot of interest from some to drive a Red Bull car.”

“Max [Verstappen] is driving at such a high level that his confidence, commitment and talent are absolute at the moment and it’s hard to imagine anyone beating him with the same equipment.”

“But there is great talent out there, and of course what we want is to be able to have the two best drivers.”

“So, ideally, that will come from our talent pool that we have, and if we don’t think there’s that capability, we’ll look elsewhere to see who’s available.”

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