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Why Norris can forget about preferential treatment from McLaren in 2025
Lando Norris was the only driver in 2024 who was able to try and challenge Max Verstappen for the world title. For the upcoming season, the McLaren driver hopes to fight for the title right from the start of the year, but he cannot count on the unconditional support of Andrea Stella and Zak Brown quite yet.
Since the Miami Grand Prix, the McLaren team had the fastest car at their disposal in 202t, but for various reasons, the British team did not manage to secure victories when they were on offer. Norris started his sixth season at McLaren in 2024, while teammate Oscar Piastri took part in only his second season. Norris performed just a little better than Piastri in the last season, with the Brit proving to be Verstappen's only real title challenger.
However, in 2024, Norris failed to score enough points to even bring the title challenge to the final race weekend of the season, with Verstappen eventually sealing his fourth consecutive title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. For the 2025 season, the McLaren driver will be hungry for his first title.
Shortly after the last Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, Norris said that, hopefully, he can compete for the title right from the first race in 2025. "Next year is hopefully a year where I can go in and decide before the first race, we're going to fight for a championship. We've not ever thought of that. We've not even had the feeling of it from a team perspective, and also for me as a driver," the McLaren driver said.
McLaren retains the same strategy as 2024
However, Norris will have to prove once again that he is faster than Piastri. The Australian has shown on several occasions that he has the pace to match, and even outperform, the Brit during Grand Prix weekends. Along with this, the 25-year-old does not have to count on the preferential position from McLaren.
Towards the end of the season, the decision was made to help Norris beat Verstappen, perhaps a decision that was made too late by the top team at McLaren. Once the title race was over, this choice was also reversed. For 2025, once again, that treatment will be neutralised, allowing both drivers to fight for the title.
"We start just as we did this year, both drivers with equal opportunities and we see how the season plays out, could get to a situation when one supports the other or we might find they are racing for the championship down to the last race," Zak Brown said when speaking about McLaren's 2025 strategy.
Andrea Stella also stated that the team's interests are paramount: "I think we have always approached that in a cohesive way. Both drivers were always fully aware that we need to find solutions that, first of all, put the interest of the team [first] and then the interest of the drivers [second]. And so far, I think this has been a very positive process. It's a process that we plan to carry over onto next season," Stella said.
This article was created in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden
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