Watch out Oscar! McLaren F1 star Lando Norris plots reunion with former team-mate

McLaren

Watch out Oscar! Norris plots reunion with former F1 team-mate

Don't look now, Oscar

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 20 June 2026 22:58

F1 champion Lando Norris has revealed he has made plans to reunite with a former McLaren team-mate in the future.

The British racing superstar joined the grid as a rookie for the 2019 campaign having signed to McLaren's young driver programme in 2017 and served as the squad's F1 reserve driver in 2018.

Upon his full-time entry to the sport, Norris was greeted by his first team-mate Carlos Sainz, who also joined the Woking-based F1 outfit ahead of the 2019 campaign having left Renault.

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The pair drove alongside one another at McLaren for two seasons before Sainz made the switch to Ferrari, leaving Norris to partner up with fan-favourite racing personality, Daniel Ricciardo.

But even with the fun-loving Aussie taking Sainz's place, Norris has never really had a team-mate partnership quite like the one he enjoyed with the Spaniard since.

Norris and Sainz plan F1 reunion

The Brit and the Spaniard shared a heartwarming team-mate relationship which, due to McLaren's status as a midfield team at the time, was never threatened by team orders or 'papaya rules' like Norris' current F1 partner Oscar Piastri had to deal with in 2025.

But despite both Norris and Piastri being signed to the papaya squad until at least the end of 2027 and 20288 respectively, the reigning drivers' champion is already eyeing a move to get back together with Sainz.

In a video posted to social media from last weekend's Barcelona Grand Prix, Norris addressed the Spanish crowd by initially apologising for his lack of language skills.

"I’m sorry I don’t know any Spanish," the 26-year-old admitted, before adding: "Carlos taught me a lot back in the days but it’s been a long time."

The 11-time grand prix winner then teased a reunion with the home hero, as he continued his speech to the excitable crowd by saying: "Actually, me and Carlos were speaking the other day and we said one day in Formula 1 we will have a reunion of 'Carlando'."

Just the sheer mention of the popular fan-given nickname for the former driver duo received audible cheers from the crowd before Norris gave a timeline, much to the shock of current team-mate Piastri who was stood directly beside him.

"In a few years, maybe five years, six years," concluded Norris.

Sainz is currently at the centre of speculation regarding his own future in the sport due to the fact that his current contract with struggling squad Williams is set to run out at the end of 2026.

So who knows? The 31-year-old could be about to set in motion the first step of his plan to get back racing with Norris as this summer's silly season approaches.

lando: “i’m sorry i don’t know any spanish. carlos taught me a lot back in the days but it’s been a long time. actually, me and carlos were speaking the other day and we said one day in f1 we will have a reunion of carlando ? in a few years, maybe 5-6 years”

[?:nats.formula] pic.twitter.com/NLCWEC9ugg
— ray (@ln4norris) June 13, 2026