Karun Chandhok says on Sky Sports F1 podcast Lando Norris will be looking at the possibility of moves to Ferrari and Red Bull, after McLaren's poor start to the season; Naomi Schiff says Lewis Hamilton will be applying pressure at Mercedes in search of an eighth title, after a poor start
Tuesday 7 March 2023 22:06, UK
Lando Norris will be thinking about forcing a move to Red Bull or Ferrari following McLaren's poor start to the 2023 Formula 1 season, according to Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok.
Norris ended the season-opening Bahrain GP last of the 17 drivers who finished the race, as a pneumatic pressure leak forced him to pit six times and botched his hopes of challenging for points.
McLaren's woes were added to by the retirement of Norris' rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri, whose F1 debut ended after just 14 laps due to electrical issues.
"I tell you who will be thinking about a move to Ferrari or Red Bull though, is young Lando Norris," Chandhok said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
"Looking at where they're [McLaren] at, and we were talking before the season of McLaren locking him in and Zak [Brown] doing an amazing job of contracting him [Norris] in for that four-year period.
"I do wonder, and if they're smart they would have created some sort of exit clauses.
"For example, McLaren don't finish in the top four of the Constructors' Championship two years in a row, is there an option for Lando to look elsewhere?
"Because outside of the traditional top three teams, you've got Fernando [Alonso] and Lando who are your top two drivers on the grid aren't they? And the fact he [Norris] is fighting to even get a car into Q3, there's got to be a bit of frustration there I would imagine."
Another British driver to endure a challenging start to the season was Lewis Hamilton, who finished fifth as Mercedes were left well off the pace at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Hamilton's hopes of claiming a record eighth drivers' title this year already appear to be faint, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen showing ominous pace as he led a Red Bull one-two from Sergio Perez.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted after the race that Mercedes' zero-sidepod concept, which they chose to stick with after struggling in 2022, has failed and that they must now look to take a different route.
Also speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Naomi Schiff says that Hamilton's desire to win an eighth title will ensure there is "a lot of pressure internally".
"For him [Hamilton] I guess it was the moment that confirmed that really they [Mercedes] were still really much on the back foot, and hadn't made much or any progress in the winter period," Schiff said.
"That for them is probably what is so hard to digest at this point.
"Lewis obviously, and he mentioned it in the Sky Sports exclusive with Simon Lazenby and his lie detector test, is here for his eighth title. He's waiting and going to stay for it.
"But for him to be in this position, is not putting him in any sort of position to get that eighth title.
"I'm sure there's a lot of pressure internally, from both drivers, but I guess even more so from Lewis because he's not getting any younger. He's obviously got Fernando [Alonso] to look up to in terms of how far you can go. But time is of the essence.
"They [Mercedes] spent an entire season struggling and being unhappy with where they were at with the car.
"So to have had this whole winter period and come back even a step backwards from where they were at the last race last season, that is what is so tough to accept.
"Especially when your customer team has managed to smash it."
Matt Baker, Simon Lazenby, Naomi Schiff and Karun Chandhok are this week's Sky Sports F1 podcast panel!
The group discuss everything F1 related, including Max Verstappen and Red Bull's opening race victory in Bahrain, Aston Martin challenging Mercedes & Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton's mission for his eighth world title.
