Not for the first time this season, Lando Norris has been put under the microscope after another disappointing weekend. After scuppering both his runs in Q3 at the Canadian Grand Prix and taking himself out of the running by going for a gap that wasn’t there on race day, questions are once again being raised over the validity of Norris’ title chances.
On the face of it, his 2025 campaign has been solid. Armed with the fastest car on the grid, Norris has secured two wins, eight podiums a sprint win, two pole positions, and currently sits second in the world championship, 22 points behind his teammate Oscar Piastri. However, a closer look at Norris’ season paints a far bleaker picture. For one, that points gap is partly due to Piastri’s false start in Melbourne. After making a mistake on lap 44 and only recovering to ninth place, all while his teammate took home the win, Piastri ended round one 23 points behind Norris.
Since then, the Australian has had an inspired run of form. With five wins and eight podiums from the ensuing nine races, Piastri has turned that 23-point gap into a 22-point lead, meaning Norris has been on the wrong end of a 55-point swing in just ten grand prix. While the current deficit is by no means terminal, it nevertheless bodes poorly for a man many tipped as the title favourite coming into this season.
Part of this decline in form is down to qualifying. Having long since established himself as a formidable qualifier, Norris’ one-lap pace is still evident in 2025. He took top honours in Australia and pulled off the first-ever sub-70-second lap of Monaco. In fact, at the time of writing, Norris has beaten Piastri in 36 of the 62 qualifying and free practice sessions thus far. Norris has typically had the edge in Q1 and Q2, but too often we have seen him make mistakes when it matters most in Q3. Saudi Arabia turned into a recovery drive after that crash in qualifying. Bahrain followed a similar pattern after an error on his final run left him stranded in sixth, multiple Q3 errors meant he could only manage fourth at Imola, a lock-up at the hairpin in sprint qualifying in Shanghai relegated him to sixth, while the aforementioned mistakes in Canada meant Norris was once again on the comeback trail after starting P7.
While occasional errors are to be expected in any championship bout, the frequency with which Norris has fallen short when the pressure is on, casts doubt over his title aspirationsa. This is particularly of note, given his teammate’s upturn in form. Despite securing two wins and six additional podiums in 2024, few would have held Piastri in higher regard than Norris come season's end. In addition to tire management (an issue with which Piastri had struggled since his debut) the Australian rarely held a candle to his teammate on Saturday. Only out-qualifying him four times across the entire season.
However, to say Piastri has upped his game over the winter break would be a gross understatement. His tire management is now more than up to snuff - victory at tire-sensitive circuits like Bahrain and Miami confirm this - while his qualifying has improved significantly. Piastri has qualified ahead of Norris in six of the ten races so far, secured four pole positions, and has only started out of the top three once in Miami, where he went on to win the race anyway. Norris may still have the edge when it comes to raw pace, but Piastri’s consistency and lack of mistakes relative to his teammate, mean that any errors in qualifying or the race are now unlikely to go unpunished.
Compounding Norris’ woes is the car. On average the MCL 39 has been the fastest car on the grid, but it's not one with which Norris is entirely comfortable. Both McLaren drivers have complained of a lack of feel from the front axle. An issue that has made it difficult to gauge front-end grip. Norris’ driving style is one that requires a great deal of mid-corner speed which, in turn, loads both axles heavily. A lack of feel at either end can lead to a decline in confidence and it’s a problem with which Norris is clearly struggling more than his teammate. Attempts to fix the issue were made in Canada, where the suspension geometry on Norris’ car differed slightly from Piastri’s. His mistakes in Q3 and subsequent DNF make it difficult to gauge the impact this has had. However, with different setups planned for the next few grand prix, it's clear McLaren is trying to ameliorate Norris’ discomfort with the car.
Norris’ race craft has also left something to be desired. After repeatedly coming off worse in his wheel-to-wheel exchanges with Max Verstappen in 2024, Norris still seems unable to fully contend with Verstappen’s uniquely aggressive brand of race craft. His vein attempt to hold it around the outside of turn two in Miami led to him running wide and losing places, while that strange bid to go wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen at the pitlane exit at Suzuka cost Norris his only realistic chance at victory. The most discouraging facet of this is not the other on track battles in which Norris has lost out (Russell holding him off in Bahrain and off the start in China are but two examples), it's the speed with which Piastri seems to have figured Verstappen out.
Regardless of whether or not he benefitted from being able to watch Norris go up against Verstappen in 2024. Piastri’s first wheel-to-wheel exchange with the Dutchman, saw him jump Verstappen off the start in Jeddah, ensure he was ahead at the apex, and hold his line en route to taking the win. In Miami, Piastri had no trouble catching Verstappen after starting fourth and, after exercising patience and performing a switchback in response to a desperate divebomb on lap 14, proved beyond all doubt his ability to play the world champion at his own game.
As stated at the beginning, Norris’ title hopes are by no means gone, over the years we’ve seen drivers overcome similar points deficits in far shorter periods of time. But with his qualifying pace not what it once was, his mistakes under pressure both costly and common, the car not one with which he is gelling, and a teammate whose rapid improvement has made him a force to be reckoned with, it's safe to say Lando Norris has a lot of work to do if he’s to have any chance of fulfilling his pre-season potential and becoming the 2025 world champion.
