Lando Norris: How the McLaren driver beat Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to win the 2025 F1 Drivers’ Championship | F1 News

Lando Norris became the 35th world champion in F1 history and the 11th British driver after a tense title battle in Abu Dhabi.

Driving through an Australian storm

Norris had a perfect start to the season, winning a chaotic opening race in difficult conditions at the Australian Grand Prix and converting pole position into victory.

He was challenged by teammate Piastri for most of the race, but on lap 44 there was some major drama when a sudden burst of rain caused both McLarens to slide wide in the final sector. Norris managed to get back on the road quickly, but Piastri remained stuck on the wet grass for over a minute, much to the consternation of the home fans.

Norris held off Verstappen in the closing stages for a thrilling victory, but Piastri could only claw his way back to ninth place. Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle said Norris produced “one of the best drives of all time”.

Master Monaco

Piastri was winless in the last six races, while Norris won four races and went into May’s Monaco Grand Prix with a 13-point lead over his teammate in the drivers’ championship.

The British rider took the all-important pole position and overcame the introduction of a second mandatory pit stop, which the FIA ​​had hoped would spice up the race.

The fact that the new rules didn’t change much worked out well for Norris, but Piastri lost qualifying to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and had to settle for third place. The result put Norris back on even terms and marked a career milestone with victory on Monaco’s famous streets.

Recovering from the game against Canada

Contact between the McLaren pair was inevitable at one point, but a clumsy error from Norris towards the end of the Canadian Grand Prix saw him crash into the rear of Piastri in a frenzied battle for third place, ultimately resulting in his poor position and his retirement.

He quickly accepted responsibility and his nerves subsided, but he regained the points he had lost by winning three of the next four races at Spielberg, Silverstone and Budapest.

Norris took the lead after another frenzied duel at the Austrian Grand Prix, but Piastri’s mistake caught him out at the British Grand Prix, with the Australian receiving a possibly harsh 10-second time penalty for “erratic” braking after the safety car.

Perhaps further luck came to Norris when a one-stop race proved to be the best strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix. McLaren, running in fourth place, gambled on letting Norris run longer as Piastri battled for the win with Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

However, as all three drivers implemented a two-stop strategy, Norris took the lead and held off the onrushing Piastri on the final lap, with the two cars nearly level at one point.

They had three big wins with swings of 14 points each, but the results could have easily gone the other way. Instead, Norris entered the summer break just nine points behind Piastri in the standings.

Rising to the top after a small controversy

Norris’ hopes of winning the title appeared to be gone, as he was forced to retire due to an oil leak in Zandvoort, leaving him 34 points behind in the title race.

He returned in September against Monza and outscored Piastri for six consecutive weeks. The Italian Grand Prix was not without drama, but Norris’ late pit stop meant he was overtaken by Piastri in the battle for second place.

McLaren reversed its position, much to the displeasure of Piastri, who had initially said he thought slow pit stops were part of the race. Further controversy arose two races later in Singapore, when Norris aggressively overtook Piastri on the opening lap in a battle for third place.

“If you hit your teammate and you have to avoid other cars, it’s a pretty tough job to avoid that,” Piastri said on the radio. This move put Norris on the podium in 3rd place and Piastri in 4th place, which determined the race standings.

Remarkably, McLaren made contact again in the next race at Austin, this time in a sprint. Piastri tried to dive under his teammate in Turn 1 on the opening lap, but was pulled back by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, leaving Norris an innocent bystander in a multi-car collision.

McLaren lost important track time by effectively missing the sprint, and although Verstappen won the race, Norris limited the damage in second place, with Piastri struggling in fifth place.

Advantage in Mexico and Brazil

With Verstappen posing a threat to the McLaren driver, Norris was the only one to step up as pressure mounted during the run-in after a perfect weekend at the Mexico City and Sao Paulo GPs.

He overcame the much-anticipated long run to Turn 1 in Mexico, outpacing Verstappen, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to win by 30 seconds, the biggest margin of the season, and take the championship lead for the first time since April.

It was a similar story two weeks later in Sao Paulo, and with Saturday’s sprint victory added to Norris’ 24-point lead in the championship.

Norris said: “The team has done a great job and they’ve given me a great car. We push hard every weekend and I push hard off the track. It’s rewarding. It certainly doesn’t come easy.”

Stay calm under great pressure

McLaren’s disqualification in Las Vegas was a blow to Norris, with Verstappen back in title contention with two races remaining, and Piastri also benefiting with no points.

Piastri was the strongest of the McLaren drivers at the Qatar Sprint weekend, but Norris made no stupid mistakes and scored enough points for third place in the sprint, capitalizing on Kimi Antonelli’s late mistake to take fourth place in the main grand prix, giving him a 12-point lead over Verstappen.

A podium was enough for Norris to become world champion in Abu Dhabi, and that’s exactly what he did. His only awkward moment en route to the title came when he got through traffic after the first pit stop, which included having to avoid Red Bull’s aggressive Yuki Tsunoda.

However, Norris drove calmly and had enough pace to counter the threat from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will become the 2025 F1 world champion, so the championship was never in doubt in the second half of the race.

Norris said: “It’s a great feeling. I know a little bit about how Max feels and I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, who have been our biggest rivals all season.”

“I was very happy to race with them both. It was an honor. I learned a lot from both of them, so it was a lot of fun. It’s been a long year, but we did it and I’m so proud of everyone.”

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