It’s been a nail-biting year for Lando Norris fans, but what else to expect of a driver cut from a very different cloth to stoic ‘alpha males’ such as his friend Max Verstappen? Norris has never been shy about discussing his demons in public, something that has contributed to the polarisation of debate about the 2025 world championship in the fan space.
And there was plenty for Norris to talk about after what looked like a powerful early strike with victory in Australia began to evaporate as his mojo absented itself in the following rounds. Slip-ups in qualifying in China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia proved costly, compounded by execution failures in Bahrain.
He began to cut an embattled figure, saying he wasn’t able to “click” with the MCL39, even going so far as to claim that it felt as if he’d forgotten how to drive. More fuel for the burgeoning community of naysayers.
An alternative front suspension geometry fitted from June’s Canadian GP onwards restored the feel and feedback he craved as the car approached its limits, but even then it took a while to restore momentum. Indeed, in Montreal he lost further ground through a needless collision with his team-mate.
There was more angst to weather in the closing rounds as team gaffes delayed him from closing out the championship comfortably: engine failure in Zandvoort, a double disqualification for excess skid plate wear in Las Vegas, and an exasperating strategy blunder in Qatar.
All of that against a background of noises from those who had made up their minds that Norris was being favoured over team-mate Oscar Piastri – to the point where he was booed on the podium in Mexico City and Sao Paulo.
More worrying than that, of course, was Verstappen’s renaissance from Monza onwards.
Some still think Norris could be more forceful on track, but that is not his way – and he’ll take possession of the world championship trophy as evidence that he can win by racing the way he wants to race, not how anyone else believes he should.
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