The Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship sees the McLaren pair separated by 10 points, but was Oscar Piastri’s win at the Spanish Grand Prix the biggest blow yet for Lando Norris?
Despite staying in touch with Piastri, 2025 has so far been a season of struggles for Norris, in which a number of moments of untidiness have seen him drop crucial points.
The Briton has been pretty frank about this, too, talking candidly on numerous occasions about his psychological difficulties, as well as the ones he has had with the MCL39, a car that, despite its significant performance advantages over its rivals’ machines, he has personally toiled with over a single lap compared to his team-mate.
A comeback victory in Monaco saw him narrow the gap to three points, and although he appeared positive and content in defeat to the “better guy” in Piastri in Barcelona, the victory might transpire to be the most significant tipping point away from Norris of all.
Monaco appeared to be a really important step forward for Norris, completing an epic lap in qualifying to take the coveted pole position, and his calm and measured drive on Sunday – at a circuit which requires surgeon-like precision and concentration – was one that must surely rank as one of his best.
Fast forward one week, and F1 returned to a circuit with more opportunity for competition, and with the added intrigue of the FIA’s flexi-wing technical directive coming into play. McLaren had previously utilised flexi-wings to its advantage, and for its competitors, it was a potential moment to catch up and spice up the year.
For the likes of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, the herring was as red as Scuderia’s cars, as Piastri and Norris combined to give McLaren a third 1-2 this season. But for Norris, seeds of warning must have surely be sown into his mind by another loss.
Qualifying was the first big moment, Piastri taking pole by two tenths, the biggest margin for first place of the year. The race result and classification, at first glance, would suggest closeness, but in reality, the late Safety Car tightened the field up, and Piastri was the clear and deserved victor.
For Norris, Barcelona may have also seemed like a track for him to extend his newfound reinvigoration, given that last year, he had been, by a country mile, the strongest of the McLarens.
Piastri managed to set just one lap in Q3, a modest one at that, and was deleted for track limits. It condemned him to starting 10th, whereas Norris streaked to pole.
The race showed the same level of authority. Whilst losing out to Max Verstappen in the end, Norris did finish second, and just by two seconds from the Dutchman at the flag. Piastri, on the other hand, made up just three places, finishing seventh, and a whole half-minute down on Norris at the finish. Perhaps this is the biggest example of how Piastri has smoothened his rough edges with experience to exert a form of supremacy.
It also shows that Piastri is now, at the very least, at the same level as Norris, and has reached that high bar in what is his third season of F1, a bar that Norris has set in what is his seventh.
In a month, F1 arrives at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, a race in which Norris, as the leading British driver, will be enraptured by a wave of partisan support, exacerbated by his own dedicated grandstand – the Landostand – at Stowe Corner.
He’ll be hopeful of utilising the “people power” that Nigel Mansell always said gave you extra speed, especially as Norris, like Mansell, often had at the time of Silverstone, a championship battle on his hands.
However, he has two big challenges to contend with first – the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix. The former is another driver test and traditionally a race of attrition, in which qualifying will be all-important. Norris finished second last year, with Piastri fifth.
Austria’s speed and opportunities for overtaking are something Norris will need to remind himself of, as his contact with Max Verstappen late in the race saw him retire and lose important points in the championship.
If these circuits can be mastered by Norris, his desired first title is firmly back into the realms of reality, and will, just as importantly, remind the team that has carried him throughout his career is he is still worthy of its attention.
READ MORE – How Spain marked the culmination of McLaren’s F1 dominance
Discussion about this post