With how strongly McLaren have started the 2025 season, they appear to be in the driver’s seat to win both championships. But who will win the Drivers’ title between their two stalwarts, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, remains to be seen.
With Norris being the senior driver—and the one who came closest to challenging reigning world champion Max Verstappen last year—it was only natural that he was seen as the chosen one. And the Briton seemed quite comfortable carrying that favourite tag. “Next year is going to be my year too,” he said after the 2024 season finale.
However, four races into the campaign, things aren’t quite as straightforward for Norris. He leads the standings by just three points over Piastri, but it’s the Melbourne-born driver who has won two races compared to Norris’ one. Moreover, the Bristol-born driver appears rattled, frequently speaking about struggles with his driving.
With Piastri seemingly holding the mental edge, former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner had already named him as his championship pick. “He can be [world champion]. As I said, you always need to be in the right car. But in the moment, he could be already this year.”
Recently, he declared two reasons why.
“Oscar Piastri will win the world championship because it is not the lack of talent with Lando, but it is his lack of consistency, always making little mistakes,” Steiner explained on the Red Flags podcast. “Not having the confidence to do it right and almost always apologizing for everything“.
Mega pic.twitter.com/tVDLG2zoEu
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) April 13, 2025
This is something Norris has been guilty of in the past—and, according to many, it’s what derailed his chances of dethroning Verstappen last year.
He made several errors in 2024 and failed to convert pole positions into wins due to poor race starts. As a result, he dropped a massive haul of points, allowing Verstappen to retain his crown despite not having the fastest car for over half the season.
Norris knew where he went wrong. After the Belgian GP, he admitted, “I gave away a lot of points over the last three, four races, just because of stupid stuff and mistakes, bad starts.”
He came into 2025 hoping to be flawless—but so far, he’s been anything but. While his race starts haven’t been an issue this season, Piastri seems more composed and, more importantly, more confident.
In Bahrain last weekend, a visibly dejected Norris said, “I feel like I’ve just never driven an F1 car before. I’m struggling a lot, I don’t know why. I need to try and find some answers.”
️ “I’m not doing a good enough job.”
A downbeat Lando Norris on his Bahrain GP qualifying performance: pic.twitter.com/ni5aPOYsGz
— The Race (@wearetherace) April 12, 2025
That attitude is something former Haas boss Guenther Steiner doesn’t quite appreciate.
However, team principal Andrea Stella sees it differently. He believes it’s a trait that sets Norris apart—his instinct to self-reflect rather than point fingers. “He tends to absorb and point the blame on himself. Offloading entirely the team, like: you guys, not your problem—it was me.”
Stella also acknowledged that the team shares some blame for Norris’ underperformance, having made changes to his car that have arguably made his job more difficult.
But with Norris admitting that he doesn’t feel “comfortable” with the MCL39 and can’t figure out how to extract more from it, his title hopes for 2025 could already be in real jeopardy.
