Lando Norris has expressed he is more “excited to perform under the pressure” that comes with being considered the favourite to win the Formula 1 championship in 2025.
Norris is going into the upcoming campaign striving to accomplish his maiden Drivers’ title having helped McLaren to clinch the Constructors’ crown in the previous season.
The Briton had an outside chance in 2024, but numerous errors between both him and the team thwarted his attempt to overturn eventual champion Max Verstappen’s lead.
But with McLaren ending the season as the benchmark team, Norris is regarded as the leading bet among the bookmakers to now go one better and secure the ultimate prize.
That status has been consolidated based on McLaren’s showing in pre-season testing in Bahrain last week which witnessed Norris produce a standout race run in the MCL39.
Norris, who admitted that McLaren has “no excuse” not to take both titles in 2025, has recognised the heightened attention on the team that’s come with raised expectations.
“As much as we want to believe we’re the best, I guess we still want to feel like we’re underdogs,” Norris told select media including Motorsport Week.
“We have a lot to fight for and try to prove at every minute of every day. And of course, there’s going to be more pressure on the whole team.”
“I guess every individual in the team, there’s over a thousand people, everyone’s going to think of it. They’re going to think, ‘wow, we did it last year’.
“There’s going to be more eyes on us. There’s more expectation on every single one of us.
“They each have their own role and their own job that they know.
“And I’m sure they’ve thought of what else can I do to improve because I don’t want to be the person that doesn’t have that half a tenth or one thousandth or two thousandths even.
“So people are going to be feeling the pressure. But I think we all know it. We’ve acknowledged it. We accept it, including myself.
“I know coming into this season that for a lot of people, I’m the favourite and that kind of thing. And as a team, we’re the favourites.”
Norris relishes heightened pressure
The errors that blemished Norris’ season in 2024, coupled with his tentativeness in wheel-to-wheel battles, prompted claims he can’t handle the demands at the sharp end.
The four-time F1 race winner has dismissed that assertion, though, contending that he welcomes the spotlight being on him as that is when he tends to operate at his best.
“I think I’ve said in some interviews over the last month or so or a few weeks, a lot of people think that pressure is a bad thing,” he acknowledged.
“But for me, it’s really the opposite. It’s a good thing. I’ve always done much better under pressure. I’m able to think and to focus much more under pressure.
“I think one has the right way of doing things. I’ve said that many times. But I still get nervous. And I feel pressure. And I know it’s there.
“But my best performances have often come when there’s more eyes.
“There’s more expectation on me to prove I’ve stepped it up again from where I did last year. I had a good year.
“But it was clear I needed to improve in many areas. Especially my fighting against Max and other things.
“But I’m not going to be just fighting Max this season. I’m going to be fighting this guy on my left [Oscar Piastri] and probably many other drivers.
“But yeah, I have to make sure I’m ready to fight against everyone and to step it up. And I feel ready to do so. So I’m excited to perform under pressure.”
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