Lando Norris reckons he has certainly stepped up in F1 2024 and has what it takes going into the 2025 season where he will be potentially challenging for drivers’ title.
He had one eye on the drivers’ title in 2024 when McLaren were on a role, but the gap to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was too big to be curtailed. They tried via all means, but they eventually had to settle down and push for the constructors’ championship, which they won after decades of waiting.
Norris certainly led the charge for McLaren with an able support from Oscar Piastri. The Brit took on Verstappen, but couldn’t push through eventually. There were moments of controversy as well, which held him back. But he believes he stepped up his game in 2024 F1 season.
And he had what it takes to push for the drivers’ title from the get go in 2025 where it will be interesting battle from the first weekend without the factor of a dominating Red Bull in the initial phase. Norris had his shortcomings in 2024, but he feels he has learnt a hell lot from that time.
“Honestly, it’s probably the harder moments, which are the ones you learn the most,” said Norris to media. “So it’s kind of true what people say. But those harder times, my battles with Max, that kind of thing, certain other cases throughout the season. If I go back to Austria, Silverstone, there are just some along the way and some have different reasons, but… None of them are necessarily ones which have made me doubt myself any more.
“The 2024 season been my best season from a performance, like personally. Was it good enough? Probably it wasn’t, no. But when you look at my own performance and my qualifying performances, for instance, they’ve been almost twice as good as what I was in 2023, especially comparing to the other guys in exactly the same car. So I’ve definitely stepped it up at a good level in 2024. I obviously lost out on a few things. And there were maybe three starts, which lost me one or two positions at times.
“But they were positions quite often just to Max. Or it was Budapest and one to Oscar and little things like that. But none of them, when I look back on them, made me feel like, well, I’ve not got what it takes. Those moments only came when it was directly against Max. And it’s Max. Going up against Max in any state is always going to be tricky. And no one has a nice time racing Max. I think Mexico was a bit of a turning point when it was proved that not everything he does is perfect.
“I think if we all go back to Austin and go back to Turn 12, the majority of, I say, almost everyone on the grid, as drivers and also externally, disagreed with the fact I got the penalty. We either both should not have got one or we both should have got one. You know, so… I think it’s little cases along the way, but I certainly, from a pace point of view, have not doubted myself this year. And I think I’ve definitely given myself more faith.
“Like, when I look at qualifying, I remember that in 2023, I messed up my Q3 lap in Abu Dhabi, a lap that I should have done P2 when I had a big slide in 12, 13. And I was pretty annoyed with myself post quali. And that was what everyone spoke about then. But that’s not really happened in 2024. I’ve closed off my quali laps. I’ve improved in all those areas. And it was more just that toe-to-toe fight, with one of the best in the world.
“And the thing is, what you don’t see on the outside are some of those moments where if I did certain things, we would have crashed. People on the outside have no idea on what it takes and those moments where you accept losing a battle. And that is the case. And that was because of where we were in the first six, seven races of the year.
“We lost too many points. And I was just in that position where I couldn’t gain as much as what I needed to and wanted to. But I’m not using any of these as excuses. I’m saying I didn’t have what it took this season to fight against Max and deliver what I needed to deliver. But it certainly gave me the feeling of, ‘OK, if I improve this little bit here, this little bit here’, for the first time, I have confidence in saying I’ve definitely got what it takes,” summed up Norris.
Here’s Toto Wolff praising McLaren
Here’s Oscar Piastri on needing to step up in 2025
Here’s Fernando Alonso on Andrea Stella, Zak Brown
Here’s McLaren on winning the F1 title
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
