The 2025 F1 season is the best shot for Lando Norris to bag his maiden F1 title. In this sport, the opportunity to dominate comes quite rarely, and with a flawless MCL39, Norris has the golden opportunity to secure the title. Moreover, with the 2026 regulations reset around the corner, the #4 driver needs to make the most of McLaren’s competitiveness this season.
Yet, the mistakes of the past seem creep back into the Briton’s title challenge with four rounds into the 2025 campaign and only one race win to his name. In terms of his media presence, this has also seemed to have taken a toll on him.
Norris has always been a driver who has been overly self-critical about himself. And after missing out on pole position and the win at the Bahrain GP, last weekend, those traits reared their head up once again.
Amid this lack of faith in himself by Norris, ESPN’s Katie George compared the Briton’s mentality with that of the legendary, Michael Jordan. Having served as an inspiration to several young athletes, not just in basketball, Jordan’s mindset of approaching a game may help Norris chase his maiden world championship, says George.
“I mean I think about Michael Jordan like he used to fabricate sh*t out of thin air just to get himself going before a game like he would come up with random quotes that a competitor did not say just to get the locker room going and get himself motivated,” she explained comparing him to Norris.
This tidbit about the NBA superstar was revealed in the Netflix documentary about him titled ‘The Last Dance’. In comparison, Norris lacks this killer instinct that has translated into his performances on track—with his lesser experienced teammate, Oscar Piastri schooling him in the previous two races.
Lando has his work cut out after qualifying P6 #F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/j5c5GijMWU
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 12, 2025
Piastri has been a calm-minded individual, and has made Norris’ life difficult via his sheer brilliance on track. The Melbourne-born driver has the Australian mentality of being relentless at the sport they pursue. Off the track as well, Piastri has embodied that Aussie mindset by not giving anything away about his mental state.
Norris, on the other hand, has been quite candid about his vulnerabilities. Now, the F1 paddock isn’t completely devoid of self-critical personalities. Yet, according to Nate Saunders, there is one glaring difference as to how Norris berates himself relative to other drivers.
He pointed out how Lewis Hamilton is also critical of his own mistakes. But the seven-time world champion uses that to fuel is desire to excel in the sessions to come and speaks in a way that doesn’t give away that he is downbeat unless in exceptional circumstances.
For Norris, he needs to address this soon. After a stellar weekend at the Sakhir International Circuit, Piastri has closed the gap to the Briton in the standings, and Mercedes’ George Russell is also hot on their heels to provide a thrilling three-way title fight this season.
