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“Could Be the Next Max Verstappen”: Lando Norris Look Away as Christian Horner Makes a Bold Prediction

Published 02/26/2023, 5:00 AM EST

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Despite a lack of recent success, Lando Norris has been hailed as a future world champion. This has been credited to the skills that he has put on display in an often sub-par McLaren challenger. But he’d be sad to know the driver, whom Red Bull boss Christian Horner has credited with one of the biggest titles that he could personally give: “Next Max Verstappen.”

And the driver is none other than Lando’s own teammate Oscar Piastri, the former F2 and F3 champion in his rookie years, who has been called the next big hotshot on the grid. And having served as the Alpine’s reserve driver last year, few revelations have emerged from the Drive to Survive’s latest season.

via Reuters

In the fifth episode of the season titled “Pardon My French,” Christian Horner has been seen talking about the Australian sensation. He said, “He is an outstanding talent. We had an opportunity to potentially do something with him in his very formative years, and we didn’t pursue that. That’s something I regret not doing because he could be the next Max Verstappen.”

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The statement must have come as a shock to Norris, who may have hoped for a seat at Red Bull if the grid was reshuffled in the future, as Horner claimed in episode 7 of the season. Christian Horner has praised Lando in the past, but never to this extent. So, now imagine a scenario where Red Bull has Verstappen and Piastri as its drivers. It’s all chaos and championships here. The latest version of Rosberg vs. Hamilton is possible.

Max Verstappen believes DTS did Lando dirty

Max Verstappen has been one of the harshest critics of Netflix’s docuseries, so much so that he refused to sit down for interviews with the show’s team for the 2021 season. However, he returned in the latest season.

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via Reuters

But Max had sympathies for Lando, as he accused Drive to Survive of making the McLaren driver look like a villain when compared to Daniel Ricciardo. Something he felt for himself during his battles with Ricciardo.

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Max, as quoted by the Mirror, had said, “For me, personally, what I didn’t like was about Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. I think they are two great guys, really nice first of all, and they made it look like Lando was a bit of a d**k, which he isn’t at all.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz Achieve Rare F1 Feat With Colossal Disney Lightyear Collaboration 

Drive to Survive has been scrutinized for the same reason by several other fans as well. However, regardless of its flaws, it does add a human aspect to the drivers and team principals, making things more relatable to the fans.

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Written by:

Manan Goel

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Manan Goel is a Formula 1 author at EssentiallySports. As a literature student at Delhi University, he had been a geek for fiction and a nerd for sports. He claims Sebastian Vettel was his first love after seeing him at the Indian Grand Prix, and he has been a fan of the sport and Red Bull ever since.
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Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai