How Can Lando Win WDC in 2025
- Tarasekhar Padhy
- Jan 3
- 6 min read
2024 was Lando Norris’ best season in Formula 1 so far.
Four race wins, eight pole positions, and 13 podium finishes.
Moreover, his performance was key for helping McLaren win their first constructor’s title in 26 years.
While the British driver has many reasons to celebrate the 2024 season, he certainly would be happier if he clinched his first world drivers’ championship, especially when he had the fastest car for the majority of the season.
In this article, let’s look at what Norris can do differently by identifying four key areas of improvement for the McLaren driver.
1. Being Comfortable in the Uncomfortable
There were many moments when F1 drivers raced with cars that had the narrowest of operating windows. Additionally, there were events when drivers had to perform with a broken car.
Championship-winning drivers will somehow manage to extract the maximum out of the car and have little to no impact on their results.
Lando Norris isn’t one of them.
In the Austrian GP of the 2024 season, Norris and Verstappen collided when the former was attempting to overtake the latter for the lead on lap 64. Both drivers got a puncture. Max Verstappen was awarded a ten-second time penalty for causing a crash.
The Brit could have nursed the car and salvaged some points, but instead rushed the car to the pits to retire from the race. He himself acknowledged that he could have secured some points if driven more carefully. [1]
Some might argue that getting a couple of points over Max in Austria, considering how the season panned out, wouldn’t have made a difference for the drivers’ or constructors’ standings.
However, it would have given him a psychological advantage. He would have looked at himself in a different light because that’s what overcoming difficult obstacles does for you.
This is similar to Verstappen’s drive in the 2021 Hungarian GP. He finished the race in P9 with half a car. A collision at the beginning of the race massively damaged his right-side barge board and floor, rendering the car undrivable. [2]
In the Saudi Arabian GP, the same season, Lewis Hamilton collided with Max and sustained damage to his front wing, losing almost four-tenths per lap. He ended up winning that race and also managed to set the fastest lap. [3]
Norris needs to recognize that he won’t have smooth sailing races and may have to complete sessions with suboptimal circumstances. When things get hard, your instinct, as a championship contender, should be to make the most out of tough situations, not to quit and wait for the next chance.
This mental defeat doesn’t just tank your confidence but also strengthens the opposition.
2. Trusting His Own Skillset
During uncertain situations, when no one really knows what the right move is, you are better off listening to yourself. If you win, good for you. If you lose, you will make wiser decisions in the future, under similar conditions.
However, if you listen to others and win, you are more likely to do the same when difficult circumstances arise, and arise they will. And if you lose, you must live with the ghost of ‘what if’ for the rest of your life.
Lando Norris experienced this first-hand in the 2024 British Grand Prix.
The race in Silverstone was nothing less than a rollercoaster with a fairytale finish. The race started in dry conditions, then it rained for a while before returning to dry again.
In such dynamic conditions, drivers need to nail the tire strategy, especially during the crossover period. There were two crossover moments in the British GP and Norris got both of them wrong.
He waited until Hamilton and Verstappen made the switch before diving into the pits. In both the crossovers, Lando did one extra lap before changing getting wet tires when it rained, and dry tires when it stopped toward the end of the race.
Furthermore, he copied Lewis’ strategy when it came to tire choice, without taking track position and tarmac conditions into consideration. This cost him P2 to Max Verstappen in the dying stages of the Silverstone epic. [4]
I believe Lando knew exactly when to change the tires. Dude has been in F1 as a full-time driver since 2019. He was too afraid to act based on his own wisdom and waited for validation from others.
When he heard on the radio that Max and Lewis were pitting, he followed suit the lap after.
You cannot win the world championship while making critical decisions in others’ minds. These calls aren’t to be outsourced to some other driver, driving a different car, executing a different strategy, and running in a different position.
3. Not Admitting Inferiority in Talent
To beat the best and be the best, you have to believe you are the best.
Lando did not believe, for the majority of the 2024 season, that he could actually win the whole damn thing. [5, 6]
This reminds me of a clip from a particular episode of Grill The Grid, where each driver was asked to rate themselves or something. Max Verstappen said he is the best and explained how drivers need to have that mentality if they want to win championships.
Norris, on the other hand, was pretty vocal in front of the press on how much behind he is in terms of skill and talent from the Dutch driver throughout the season. Austin and Las Vegas are two examples that come to mind.
When you mentally accept that you aren’t a championship-winning driver, you can’t really perform at that level.
For instance, consider the second safety car restart in the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix. Lando went wide in the first corner, losing a couple of places to Leclerc and Piastri.
Was it because he lacked the acumen? Or did he feel mentally defeated after his rival was ahead of him? Remember, he started on pole and Max qualified P17.
It is quite possible that he admitted to himself that he is inferior in rainy conditions and welcomed the mistake. Honestly, he looked as if he wanted to quit and start over. This is a bit related to seeking comfort (the first point).
Look, Max drove a great season, and complimenting him is quite gentlemanly. At the same time, you can praise others while not kicking yourself. Lando didn’t need to say that ‘I need to get to his level’ or something along those lines. [7]
He could have simply said congratulations to Max and moved on. You want to be a friend, I get it, but many friendships have gone down the line for the sake of an F1 title battle, ask Lewis and Nico.
4. Bending the Rules at Times
Getting into Formula 1 is difficult.
Earning a drive in a championship-winning car is even more challenging.
Competing for the world championship while you have the team’s support is even more hard to come by.
When you discover yourself in that situation, your sole focus should be to leave everything at the table, every single time you step into the car. Lando Norris didn’t do that enough.
You should go for every gap that exists to capitalize on every opportunity that can be. If you approach the session with a ‘shaking hands’ mentality, you will lose. It doesn’t matter if you have a faster car if you have a better driver in front of you who is immune to taking risks.
And this is the story of every world championship fight in F1.
Drivers aren’t afraid to pull their sleeves and go hostile on track. Ruining your rival’s races, pushing the limits of the regulations, and maintaining a championship aura is key to having that extra edge.
This goes back to Lando being too much of a good guy. Niceness doesn’t win championships. I get that he wants to be friends with Max and others, but that needs to go out of the window.
Norris needs to be cold-hearted.
Conclusion: There’s Hope for 2025
The last two races of 2024 were interesting, especially if you look at how Lando performed.
He didn’t botch the pole position start in the Qatar Sprint and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — a problem he struggled with on multiple weekends.
Moreover, in Qatar, he would have finished P2 after starting from P3, but failing to life during double-waved yellows cost him a good chunk of points.
Either way, all of it signals that Norris is getting himself together and executing perfect weekends all-round. This can be bad news to other drivers that aim to compete for the 2025 title.
Truth be told, the British driver struggles with mental block. He is too friendly, emotional, and uncertain. All of it prevents him from extracting the maximum out of the car and consistently winning races, especially when he has the car and talent.
Can he do it in 2025?
Only time will tell.
Until next time,
Tara
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