Lando Norris drops 2-word reaction to Max Verstappen being announced as AlphaTauri brand ambassador

Lando Norris has reacted to fashion brand AlphaTauri announcing Max Verstappen as their global brand ambassador. The brand was founded and is owned by Red Bull since 2016.

Red Bull is the only team on the F1 grid to have a junior team - (VCARB). The team was renamed Scuderia AlphaTauri between 2020 and 2023 to promote the brand. However, since its name was changed again last year, its direct presence on the grid wasn't seen.

AlphaTauri recently signed four-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen as its global ambassador. The Dutchman has driven for Red Bull all his career and is an extremely popular face amongst fans, so it makes sense to have him as the ambassador.

"🤝 Excited to welcome four-time Formula 1 World Champion @maxverstappen1 as our Official Global Brand Ambassador," the post read.

Upon the announcement, fellow F1 driver for McLaren Lando Norris shared his reaction on social media. Seemingly surprised by the announcement, he wrote:

"no way????" Commented Lando Norris on the post.

Lando Norris reacts to AlphaTauri signing Max Verstappen as their ambassador (@lando on Instagram)

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Max Verstappen on the upcoming F1 season with Red Bull

Verstappen won his fourth consecutive drivers' championship in the 2024 season. However, this title was rather difficult for him to clinch compared to his championship battles in the 2022 and 2023 seasons when he dominated and left no gap for any other driver to drop in contention.

However, Red Bull's performance took a hit last year and their competitors were able to develop better. This saw McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes getting back to winning races. Meanwhile, the only thing that kept Max Verstappen at the top of the table were his consistent finishes.

RBR dropped to third place in the constructors' championship, but Verstappen remained at the top and won the title.

Looking ahead to 2025, the the 27-year-old mentioned that he is excited to be working with his new teammate Liam Lawson (Sergio Perez's replacement), and also addressed the difficulties the team faced last year.

"I’m excited to be working with a new teammate, Liam. I think the whole team is excited and looking ahead to this season," Verstappen said (via Motorsport). "Last year has been challenging at times. Of course we had a lot of good moments, also some tough moments, and I hope we can be a little more stable and a little more all-around throughout the 2025 season."

McLaren and Ferrari are expected to be at the top of the grid during the initial stages of the 2025 season. Having witnessed major structural changes (with Adrian Newey's departure from the team), Red Bull seemingly had less time to focus on this season's car earlier. While the team might as well battle for wins, they are not expected to dominate as they did in the previous years.