Ahead of the Australian GP, Lando Norris is entering the 2025 F1 season as one of the top contenders to challenge Max Verstappen for the drivers’ title. After falling short in 2024, finishing 67 points behind the Red Bull driver, Norris believes he is now better equipped to handle the high-pressure moments required to fight for the championship.
Lando Norris learning from his 2024 F1 Championship campaign
Lando Norris faced several setbacks in his 2024 F1 Championship campaign, including losing out in all wheel-to-wheel battles with Verstappen. He retired after contact in Austria and received a penalty for overtaking outside track limits in the United States, both of which allowed Verstappen to extend his advantage.
Now equipped with the knowledge of what it takes to beat the Dutchman, the British driver has spoken at length about applying these lessons in 2025 against a driver renowned for “pushing limits and boundaries.”
“I learned two big things last year. One was that I wasn’t quite ready to deliver on everything that [the team] needed from a racing point of view, and that’s just because racing against Max is a unique situation,” Norris said in a print media session in Melbourne on Thursday.
“I think had it been a battle against other drivers, I don’t know if it would have been the same. It definitely, probably, would have been as hard, that is a fair assessment because I do think Max is the hardest guy to race against.”
The right decisions are “not always a guarantee”
“He is always going to be the one who is most willing to push the limits and boundaries like he did, and I learned that aspect of Max, and I learned where I stood in that situation, which was not at the right level.
“I learned from those things, and in the last couple of races, I improved a lot in those situations, but every one is different in Formula 1. So even if some of them happen again, it is not always a guarantee I’ll make the right decision or Max will make the right decision or any other driver will make the right decision.
“It is tough because you don’t make those decisions now, you make them on track half a second before it happens, and you don’t have a lot of time to think about the whole situation.
“I am excited to have another crack at it and see what I can do and go up against any driver, and I don’t think I’m just going to be racing Max this year.”
Norris weighs in on McLaren’s true performance
Despite being tipped as a frontrunner for 2025, Norris downplayed some hype surrounding McLaren’s performance in testing. Responding to suggestions that McLaren holds a significant advantage, Lando Norris offered a more measured perspective.
“I know there’s a lot of expectation and that’s what everyone says. It was really just my one race run I did. It just made everyone believe this quite heavily. It was a good race run, but it was also in the most perfect conditions.
“Oscar [Pastri] did a race run the next day. That was a lot slower, not because he drove worse, but simply because the conditions on the final day were considerably slower.”
McLaren will “focus” on themselves
In response to a question about McLaren having an advantage, he was quick to say, “I’m quite surprised some of you were so short-sighted, especially if you wouldn’t expect to be, making so many conclusions before we even start the season.
“Everyone just wants to play that game of looking like the underdog and playing it down. We just focus on ourselves. It’s nice that so many people are thinking about us and talking about us.”
“It’s great publicity for us, so I thank all of them. It really makes no difference. If I go out and just pretend and do a bad job, who cares what people say in the past? I don’t believe it.
“I feel like we’re in a similar playing field to the top of the three teams. I still think it’s top four. There are many things that other people didn’t see. Other people are extremely strong, including Red Bull, including Mercedes, including Ferrari. I know how much fuel and stuff Ferrari had for a lot of the testing. You’d be surprised at how quick they’re going to be as a team.
“People can talk what they want. I think for us, we kept to ourselves. We kept focused. If we want to be quick, we expect to be up there fighting. But I don’t think we’ll be fighting by the margin that I just said.”
