Lando Norris started out this year with a bang. He took out Max Verstappen in the season opener in Australia while also establishing the dominance of the MCL39. But that was it. Since then, Oscar Piastri has beaten him more times than Norris would have liked.
How Lando Norris is letting go of the best championship opportunity!
Lando Norris has been driving for McLaren since back in 2019. He was teammates with Daniel Riciardo, then Carlos Smooth Operator Sainz, and then the current championship leader Oscar Piastri. But Oscar has only had a couple of years in the car. 2025 is Piastri’s third year in F1, since he joined in 2023 racing for the Papaya.
Lando Norris has shown his greatness in almost all race weekends but sadly his greatness lasts only till Q2. The moment it’s time to actually show your mettle, Lando bottles it. Like in Jeddah, Lando could have easily been on Pole, but sadly for him, he over reached or did not have the mental state in Q3 like in every other race this year except two, and off into the wall he went destroying the car, his chance at pole, and certainly his confidence.
Is Lando Norris making a comeback?
Lando Norris has just gotten a victory in the beautiful Styrian mountains in Austria, in the home of Red Bull, at their home track, the Red Bull Ring. It was actually a good fight between the McLaren boys as the team let them race till the end.
But Lando Norris showed some of his skill he had seemingly lost somewhere this year. He qualified on Pole, and made a good getaway from lights out maintaining his track position throughout the race, and eventually won the race.
Where does the problem lie?
The problem lies not in the car but in the driver, as Norris has the fastest car on track, which is pretty apparent from the fact that throughout the Austrian GP, the time gap between the McLarens and Ferraris kept on increasing until the end when Leclerc finished third almost 20 seconds behind Piastri.
Norris lacks the edge, the killer instinct, the intent it takes to be a champion and not just an F1 driver. He is still one of the best drivers in the world mind you. To make it to F1 and challenge the likes of Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso is no small feat, but Norris lacks the drive to actually wrestle his way to the top.
Till last year, Lando Norris was never in a real position to fight for the championship. He never felt what it meant to be the one being hunted from behind, by the other cars. He did know how to hunt the leader though and he is good at that.
But I feel that now that he is in the leading position, and is the one being hunted by the ones behind, he has lost the confidence and has succumbed to fear.
Lando Norris has been outqualified by his teammate four times while he has only managed to do it three times. That speaks a load about how Lando has let himself become the second driver at McLaren event though the team refuses to define their number 1 and number 2.
Can Lando take the bull by the horns?
Lando Norris needs to buckle up now. Although the McLaren F1 team have refused to declare their clear No.1 driver, the rate at which Oscar is beating Norris and maintaining the championship lead, will push the team to focus their strategy on Oscar and leave Lando Norris picking up the scraps.
It’s time for Lando to pick up his lacking confidence and pace to bring the fight to his teammate, as there is no one else that an F1 driver is compared but his teammate.
Norris has been a brilliant racer since his start in racing. Now its time for him to take the bull, that is the fear he has or the obstacle in his mind and wrestle it and regain the speed and skill we all know he has.
Its almost time for the British GP, and there would be no better place for Lando to show the world how good a driver he is!