Three ways Norris and McLaren need to improve to win the 2025 title
General
While McLaren were crowned constructors' champions in the 2024 season, Lando Norris ended up falling short against Max Verstappen in the drivers' standings. Next season, the Briton will likely have a new chance to fight for that title as well, before things could shake up with the regulation change. GPblog lists you three aspects Norris has to improve together with his team to dethrone Max Verstappen.
Clearing up the starts
One of the elephants in the room. On many occasions, fans could see the same thing: After taking pole position, already into Turn 1, Norris lost the lead immediately. Without questioning the Briton's skills, in a tight championship battle, a driver could hardly give away any important seconds behind, driving in dirty air already after Lap 1. However, the season ended in a positive way in that regard for the McLaren driver, unlike notoriously in Monza for example that also played a role in the driver finished in third position.
During the Qatar Sprint, he was undisputed off the line. A day later, starting from P3, he once again cleared the start, and positioned himself well behind Verstappen and Russell to also challenge Verstappen into Turn 2. In Abu Dhabi, while some point out Oscar Piastri had to be more careful given the constructors' title on the line, but Norris did his job from pole position, and went on to claim the 25 points for this team. Now, this positive trend needs to continue heading into a battle for the drivers' title, unlike his start at COTA, that will be tackled during the next point.
Has to draw the line against Verstappen
With Max Verstappen's name on the grid, hardly less is expected than him fighting for a championship. That's the Dutchman's bread and butter, something he excels in is taking risks and reeping the rewards for that. He is often called agressive, but he finds the limits well. During the weekend in COTA, Norris unnecessarily opened space up on the inside for Verrstappen heading into Turn 1 after the start, and then also at the end, he led him off the track to make his maneouvre illegal. If Verstappen sees a gap, he will go for it.
One way that can be tackled is by of course having the lead in the championship, as we are yet to see Verstappen fight for a title from behind, as he was hardly on the backfoot in terms of points against Lewis Hamilton in 2021 as well. The second way is putting down a marker, similarly to how Verstappen did in that season. Norris has to make his attempts agressive, taking advantage of the rule book, and find those extra points. Moreover, if he sees Verstappen in the mirror, he has to close the gap no matter what. Because the Red Bull driver will go for it. And in a matter of seconds, Norris' evaluation has to be spot on in terms of what he allows to get Verstappen a penalty. It's not an easy task, but that is the standard set by the Dutchman.
'Underpromise, overdeliver'
Norris and McLaren's communication about the title chances was not always the best approached. When the team stated on multiple occasions that their goal is the constructors' title, no matter how sincere they were, that is hardly imaginable for the fans. When saying Verstappen was too far ahead already, fans start to add up points Norris missed out on for certain reasons when Red Bull were on the backfoot. Of course that will happen, as on many weekends, as at events like Zandvoort or Singapore, fans could see Norris win by over 20 seconds.
In Monza, where McLaren were caught out by Ferrari relying on their great advances in tyre management, Verstappen finished seventh. When McLaren were ahead of their main drivers' championship rival by such margins over certain weekends, it is also hard to imagine they have the third or even fourth best car in certain interviews. It was not the perception, and not many were convinced.
In sports, no matter the competition, managers, leaders, players or drivers usually like to 'underpromise'. Of course, the situation was made worse when especially after the summer break, Red Bull struggled a lot with the RB20. But then, with finishing 2024 on a high, Norris has already said: "This is my goal. This is our goal as a team. We want to win the Constructors’. We want to win the Drivers’ next year. I made my mistakes this year, but I've learned a lot." Expectations are sky high, and the culmination of everything that happened at the end of 2024 already puts McLaren and the driver in the box of 'overpromise', ever close to the point of no return, when no matter what happens, not leading already after the first few events will be a failure, putting them under more pressure.
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