Lando Norris is excited about the 2025 season as many — including some of his rivals — have deemed him the favorite to win the championship and he too believes he can win it. Ahead of the upcoming season, the Briton explained how for the first time he feels confident in his abilities to fight for the title.
“I’m confident and for those of you who know me, I’m not a guy who’s normally full of confidence,” the 25-year-old said in a video he uploaded on his official YouTube channel. “But for the first time, I’m confident. I’m in a good place”.
With Norris himself so confident about his chances to fight for the championship, even his rivals have decided to poke fun at him.
During the recent F1 75 Launch Event, Mercedes’ George Russell teased Norris about the same.
“Do the guys know you’re the favorite this year,” Russell said while Norris was giving an interview to SPORTbible on the red carpet. This prompted Norris to smile and reply with, “Shut up!”
George Russell jokes with Lando Norris about being the favourite this season #F1 #F175 pic.twitter.com/PXJGczNJV9
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) February 18, 2025
Although Norris was initially embarrassed by this exchange, he then hilariously said, “Favorite [with] the bookies! I’m going to make people a lot of money this year!”
On paper, Norris might be the favorite to gun for the title this season. However, there are many drivers waiting in the wings to spoil the 25-year-old’s party. Prime amongst them would be Max Verstappen who would want to defend his crown and win his fifth-consecutive title.
Who can challenge Norris for the title in 2025?
Given how the RB20 struggled during the latter half of the 2024 season, it would take a lot of effort for Red Bull to improve their car and give Verstappen another realistic shot at the title. But elsewhere on the grid, there are many contenders who would want to challenge the #4 driver.
Norris’ biggest challenge would come from within McLaren itself. His teammate Oscar Piastri showed his skills behind the wheel of the MCL38 last year, racking up two wins. Moreover, the Australian showed the fans that he wasn’t afraid to get his elbows out and challenge his teammate whenever he received an opportunity to do so.
If the MCL39 is the car to beat, Norris would expect stiff competition from the #81 driver in equal machinery. Moreover, the form book suggests that Ferrari will start on equal footing with the Woking-based team in terms of competitiveness.
With the likes of Charles Leclerc and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton hungry to end Ferrari’s 17-year-long title drought, Norris will have to be wary of a fast-charging Prancing Horse throughout 2025.
Norris is himself aware of the competitive dynamics building around this season. Hence, he wants to pace himself race after race rather than give in to the ‘favorite’ tag.
