Dr Helmut Marko has now admitted he would like to attract Lando Norris to Red Bull.

At Silverstone, as 23-year-old Norris impressed in his improved McLaren, Marko was spotted in conversation with the British driver's agent Mark Berryman.

Marko has now told Kleine Zeitung newspaper: "He has a contract with McLaren in 2025, but he is by far the strongest of the young drivers.

"His youthful nature would also suit him best at Red Bull."

He added that "intensive talks" have been held with Norris in the past, adding: "And it's no secret that he and Max (Verstappen) are good friends."

For now, however, Red Bull Racing is locked up with Sergio Perez contracted through next year and now Daniel Ricciardo making his way back to prominence with his new Alpha Tauri race seat.

It's bad news, of course, for struggling rookie Nyck de Vries who has lost his place in Formula 1 just ten races into his very first full season.

"When you axe a driver after 10 races it shows the process of making the hiring decision is wrong," former F1 driver Lucas di Grassi said.

The de Vries sacking also coincides with rumours that Marko and Red Bull are looking to slash the outfit's famed but controversial driver program at the end of the year.

Red Bull is well known for making brutal decisions - like the decision to oust Dutchman de Vries, 28, with immediate effect to revive 33-year-old Ricciardo's flagging career.

"Racing is cruel and so are the decisions," said well-known Dutch racing driver Tom Coronel.

"In my opinion, it's way too early to make a decision about a driver when you're not even halfway through the season.

"There's a lot more than Formula 1," he added, "but you deserve to have a full season to show your progress." body check tags ::