From an error-ridden 2024 to securing the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship in 2025, Lando Norris‘ transformation over the past 12 months has been extraordinary.
To win an F1 title requires fortitude, consistency, ruthlessness, and a desire to win by any means necessary, including countering rivals’ mind games and on-track antics. Norris has risen to the fore in 2025, rising to new levels to become World Champion.
The journey to win motorsport’s top prize has been a long journey. From a fresh-faced teenager to a driver prone to letting his emotions get the better of him, he is a vastly improved prospect in 2025. The past two seasons have been by far the most defining. From absolute highs to horrifying lows, his contrasting form has come to define his career. Norris’ need to overcome this was crucial to securing the championship.
2025 has been full of flashpoints, moments that have defined his campaign. Riding the rollercoaster of a title year is not for the faint of heart. It is certainly not for those who cannot handle the heat of a negative result, something that Norris had to overcome.
Hitting rock bottom in Brazil
2024 saw Norris and McLaren emerge as a serious challenger at the sharp end. McLaren arguably had the faster car than Max Verstappen’s Red Bull from the Miami Grand Prix onwards, where Norris took his first win – the world seemed to be at his feet.
Gone was the Norris of his early years: joking and singing on the radio or pulling pranks on team-mates. Instead, he presented as a steely-faced driver, ready to dig deep to take the next step in his career. Becoming a title contender is every driver’s dream. Yet it is a bit like eating a decadent dessert, only to discover it has been laced with a slow-acting poison. It tastes fabulous, but the notion that something is very wrong lingers away.
In Norris’ case, the pressure of attempting to dethrone Verstappen in his prime slowly ate away at him, leading to uncharacteristic errors throughout the year. First laps became a living nightmare, starting out in the Spanish Grand Prix. Taking an emphatic pole position away from Verstappen, he slipped up at the start and dropped to third by the first corner. Although he salvaged second place at the flag behind Verstappen, the chance to back up his Miami success was gone within seconds of the lights going out.
Later in the season, two consecutive races in Hungary and Belgium indicated a severe decline in confidence. Starting on pole at the Hungaroring, he bogged down off the line once again. Allowing team-mate Piastri to get ahead at Turn 1, he lost any chance of winning on the twisting circuit. Just one week later in Spa, he fluffed another start and was forced wide into La Source. Taking to the gravel, he finished a disappointing sixth.
But rock bottom would await in Sao Paulo. Once again starting in the coveted P1 slot, this race was make or break for his championship ambitions. On the grid, the Briton looked like a deer in the headlights, eyes on stalks and visibly nervous. Losing the lead off the line in the wet conditions, he ran wide multiple times en route to sixth, while Verstappen came back from 17th to win to all but extinguish Norris’ title hopes.
Norris would later admit that he didn’t sleep following that race with the realisation that his slim chance to become World Champion had slipped through his grasp on a weekend where he had looked poised to send the title race down to the final round. But amid all the criticism, setbacks, and brutal negativity, his dominant win in Abu Dhabi demonstrated a change in the Briton and sent out a statement of intent to his rivals.
Combat improvements – via infamy
Despite his raw speed being undeniable, there were still question marks surrounding Norris’ racecraft heading into 2025. Time and time again, his overtaking prowess had ended in failure, with Austria the most infamous and disappointing example during 2024.
His lack of success duelling with Verstappen continued to haunt him coming into 2025, despite his dominant final race at the end of the season. Verstappen quite literally pushed him aside on numerous occasions, most infamously at the Red Bull Ring.
This encounter stuck with the Briton. Verstappen had the psychological edge. As part of his reset for 2025, this vital element had to change. The first opportunity came in Miami, the scene of his first win a year prior. Lining up next to his rival in second on the grid, he was once again forced wide in the first corner. But in a change of scenario, he fought back and passed Verstappen during the race to finish second behind his team-mate. Norris appeared to no longer be held back by incidents on track not going his way.
The early part of 2025 proved to be testing for other reasons, though. Piastri clearly had the edge in terms of set-up, pace and confidence. Qualifying mistakes became as regular as a morning coffee to those of a sleepy disposition, first thing in the morning. His Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying mistake was one of his most unnecessary.
Then, of course, came the most infamous moments of what youth today call “brain rot”. Mirroring Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button back in 2011, Norris collided with Piastri on the pit straight on Lap 67 in Canada, damaging his suspension and retiring on the spot. The media once again began to turn on him, smelling blood. Bar winning the season opener, he would have to wait until the seventh round in Monaco to taste victory again.
Norris rides a competitive wave before wiping out
Winning in the Principality looked to be a turning point. Closer to Piastri’s pace than before, he overhauled him, taking three victories in five races, and outscoring him in every round to close the gap at the top of the standings to single figures.
Norris’ racecraft had become first class; he could now battle with those around him and still dominate whilst in the lead. He rode the crest of a wave, but, as with all waves, a crash was imminent. His biggest test came in Zandvoort. Holding a small gap while chasing Piastri, an oil leak developed on his McLaren, leaving him devastated on the sidelines. Now 34 points behind his team-mate in the battle for the title, he held his head in his hands in the sand dunes. How he responded to his would be crucial.
Showcasing the rapid mental change undergone, his Zandvoort retirement lit a fire that turned him into a near-unstoppable force. While McLaren lost its dominant edge as Red Bull mounted a charge, Norris transformed into the very essence of consistency itself.
His race starts were near flawless, his pace stratospheric. His new abilities were tested in the United States Grand Prix in Austin. Stuck behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the race, he executed a perfect move on Lap 21, salvaging second.
An 18-point deficit to Piastri was now a 34-point advantage. The title looked all but secure. But in Las Vegas, McLaren committed one of the biggest faux pas in history, since Pizza Hut attempted to rename itself “Pasta Hut” as a PR stunt in 2008.
Like the rebrand, it could have been avoided, was deeply embarrassing to see, and came with reputational damage. With two races left and a Sprint, Norris held a 24-point lead over Piastri and Verstappen. A calm, cool head in Qatar would be key.
Qatar wobble sets up title showdown
Piastri wrestled back the initiative at McLaren in Qatar, taking Sprint pole and victory, the Briton only able to take a distant but uneventful third behind George Russell.
Lining up second for Sunday’s race next to Piastri, a good start would be crucial. Instead, what followed made as much sense and had as much finesse as a dog painting a wall with a roller. McLaren’s choice not to pit its drivers on Lap 7 looked similar. It was utterly ridiculous, amateur and not what a title-challenging F1 team should be doing.
Stuck behind Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli once McLaren did pit him and Piastri, the Norris of old would have become flustered and been susceptible to mistakes. Instead, he bided his time and capitalised on an Antonelli error to take fourth.
With a 12-point advantage into Abu Dhabi, a podium finish would be enough to seal the title. But Abu Dhabi has rarely been an uneventful race when it comes to title deciders…
Norris realises childhood dream
Initially, Abu Dhabi looked like a simple weekend. Fastest over a single lap in practice, and on long runs, Norris could simply cruise to the title. But, like the shark from Jaws, Verstappen waited to strike, and strike he did, with devastating force. Work on the Red Bull after a difficult Friday paid off, and the Dutchman stormed to pole position, relegating Norris to second. The disappointment aside, Norris faced a difficult dilemma.
With nothing to lose, Verstappen would launch an almighty shark attack into Turn 1 regardless of where he started on the grid. To have to overtake him off the start line is risky, particularly after Piastri’s collision with the Red Bull at the same track last year.
Having dropped behind Piastri on the opening lap, Norris then had Charles Leclerc threatening to relegate him to a position where the title would be lost. The Ferrari had a pace that was much quicker than expected and Leclerc haunted the McLaren’s mirrors.
The Norris of 2024 might have collapsed under the pressure, as he did in Brazil 2024. The comparisons between that fateful weekend and the 2025 finale are uncanny, given the stakes. Instead, he remained calm, even as Leclerc threatened to make a move. His driving style remained metronomic, managing the gap where necessary, never losing control of the situation. Then came his biggest test: getting through traffic after his stop.
Passing two cars after his first stop was an indicator of a driver on a charge to a championship. Staying calm as Yuki Tsunoda attempted a move more questionable than taking candy from a baby in the second Red Bull was crucial. His racecraft demon had been vanquished after his second stint, the failures of 2024 relegated to history.
Taking the chequered flag in third, his childhood dream was realised. It had been made possible by failing spectacularly a year before. His emotions poured out as he got out of the cockpit. It was heartwarming and emotional for all to see. For a driver known for his contrasting races, Brazil 2024 is intrinsically linked to his title-winning race in Abu Dhabi One wouldn’t be possible without the other; the transformation has been extraordinary.
READ MORE: What Lando Norris said after winning the F1 title in Abu Dhabi
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