McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri reflect on the winter they had preparing for a big F1 2025 season ahead.
Having had the success they had in F1 2024, both Norris and Piastri had a busy off time into the year 2025 with expanded media work owing to the championship glory of McLaren. They had their holidays which included a trip to his home in Australia for the latter.
Norris thinks he has utilised the winter far better than how he did last year which makes him happy. Piastri, meanwhile, had to work with a new trainer which took some time adjusting but they are in a good position now. Both already got the chance to drive the McLaren car in two tests.
They tested the 2026 F1 tyre for Pirelli in Paul Ricard and Barcelona. The former was a wet tyre run, with the latter being a dry one. “After the winter break, I feel good,” said Norris. “It’s been a good winter, probably one of the busiest I’ve had in terms of training and preparation. I feel like it’s been utilised well, and more efficiently than last year, so I’m happy about that.
“If anything, I’m just more excited to get back going again. I was back in the car and it felt good. Obviously, this wasn’t our race car for the year, so it wasn’t as exciting as when I will jump into this year’s car, but it’s always nice to get back in the car and get that feeling of being behind the wheel again. But this has got nothing on getting back into the race car for the year and going to the first race.
“I love not thinking of Formula 1, sometimes. Going home and seeing my friends, being alone, and doing other things with my life, rather than just driving. It is needed and I am sure everyone would say the same thing. I’ve done many different things, in many different countries, just making sure, in every aspect, that I can be more prepared than last year.
“Next up, more training – getting back to the factory for a lot of simulator time, and just getting back to work,” summed up Norris, who should be one of the F1 title contenders in 2025 after missing out against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in 2024. The Brit feels ready after the brief fight he had against the Dutchman, which helped him learn a whole lot.
Piastri, meanwhile, added: “It’s good to have a week or two where you can be at home and do absolutely nothing and not feel guilty about it. Coming from Australia, that is one of the harder things about racing, in that I don’t get home very often. For me, being at home is a big part of the off-season, so it was nice to go back to Australia for a decent amount of time and get an Aussie summer in.
“It was good to see my friends and family and just enjoy being home for a bit. I am feeling refreshed. I got some good training in, but it has been nice to get back into the car. The first week was very cold and wet, but it was nice to get back out there. It all felt pretty familiar, which is always nice. And when it is quite wet, that’s when you need your reactions the most – so it was good to get back into a tricky set of conditions and put myself to the test.
“The first lap or two felt pretty quick, but after that, it all felt normal. I think we learnt a lot, and I felt like I got back into the swing of things easily. It is very important to have a bit of a break. The seasons are very, very long now, so it is important for everyone in the team – not just us as drivers – to have a break and to spend time with families and friends.
“Obviously, we love driving race cars, but too much of anything can become damaging at a certain point. I’ve been in F1 for a couple of years now, so I’m starting to understand better what parts of my body I need to train more and what things I need to work on. I’ve got a new trainer this year, so we’ve been spending some time getting to know each other and our different ways of working and training.
“It’s been quite fun getting used to some different things. Otherwise, it’s just improving on my general level of fitness, keeping my muscular level of fitness going and trying to prepare my neck. We’re now getting into it all – we’ve got all of the usual pre-season marketing and comms work, the graphics you see on TV, the content for fans and partners, and of course, the launch we’re doing at The O2, which will be interesting. It will be good to see everyone at the factory, to get properly back to work and to get into the seat of the 2025 car and see what that is like,” summed up Piastri.
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