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Taking the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi at the final race of 2024, bringing home a first constructors’ title in 26 years for McLaren, brought up mixed emotions for cheerful chappy Lando Norris.
On one hand, it was pure elation. A member of the McLaren family for eight years, this meant as much to Norris as anyone else. He described it as a “perfect” end to the season, beating Ferrari to the championship by 14 points. And he’d need no invitation; he was going to get “hammered” later that night over the border in Bahrain.
Yet in the same breath, even amid joyous papaya-clad celebrations on the pit-wall, the boy from Bristol could not help but sample that bittersweet taste. “It’s been a special year,” he said over team radio, before adding: “And next year is going to be my year, too.”
Norris knew. Everyone knew. It could have been so much greater.
It would be a stretch to say Norris lost last year’s F1 drivers title; in fact, he was never in front. But numerous chances in faster machinery came and went – Barcelona, Budapest, Brazil, to name only the Bs – and Max Verstappen, four times a champion now, gave his close pal a lesson in title tilting. The Dutchman, the greatest of his generation, was a deserved champion.
But this season, with all early indications at testing pointing towards McLaren having the quickest car of the lot, should be different. It has to be, if Norris is to realise his potential and win a first Formula 1 world championship.
The 25-year-old is the favourite with the bookies, ahead of a season billed to be one of the closest ever. He won four races in 2024, but that worked out at a 50 per cent conversion rate from eight pole positions. His issues on lap one have been well-documented: including sprint races, he has failed to start lap two in the lead on nine occasions from 11 F1 pole positions.
It is a record he has to eradicate if he is going to convert promising Saturdays into maximum points on Sundays. But there can be “no excuses now”, as he acknowledged himself in the off-season.
LANDO NORRIS’S RECORD FROM POLE POSITION
1. Russian GP, 2021 – Position after lap one: 2nd
2. Brazil GP sprint, 2023 – 3rd
3. Chinese GP sprint, 2024 – 7th
4. Spanish GP, 2024 – 3rd
5. Hungarian GP, 2024 – 3rd
6. Dutch GP, 2024 – 2nd
7. Italian GP, 2024 – 3rd
8. Singapore GP, 2024 – 1st
9. US GP, 2024 – 4th
10. Brazil GP, 2024 – 2nd
11. Abu Dhabi GP, 2024 – 1st
“I believe Lando is ready,” says Mika Hakkinen, two times a champion with McLaren in 1998 and 1999. “He is flat out ready to achieve his goal and he can become a world champion.
“When you are not world champion and you are working towards that goal, it requires a lot of mistakes.
“I think that Lando has reached all these elements in his career. He has been taking risks, he has been critical of himself, he has been pushing flat out.”
Things boiled over at McLaren in the midst of their resurgence last year. The infamous “papaya rules” instruction – in which Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri were ruefully told they were allowed to race each other but only without risk – was short-sighted. It was a sign of a team unaccustomed to racing at the front.
Preference should have been given to title contender Norris from the outset. But have CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella learned their lesson?
Norris and Piastri start on a “clean slate”, according to the Australian, this year. Yet history shows us that teams rarely win titles with two number one drivers. They bicker, they clash, and they take points off each other.
MASTERMINDS BEHIND MCLAREN’S SUCCESS
Zak Brown – CEO
Andrea Stella – Team Principal
Rob Marshall – Chief Designer
Peter Prodromou – Technical Director, Aerodynamics
Neil Houldey – Technical Director, Engineering
Mark Temple – Technical Director, Performance
“We’ve seen it with Prost and Senna [McLaren, 1988-1989] and Hamilton and Rosberg [Mercedes, 2013-2016] that a more competitive car increases competition internally,” Sky F1 pundit Anthony Davidson tells The Independent.
“It can boil over. They felt like a young team last year and two uber-competitive drivers created some fireworks here and there.
“But I feel like this is Lando’s time now. He has to deliver now. I think Lando has the advantage over Oscar with the experience he has.
“McLaren are the car to beat heading into Australia and the first couple of races. Coming in as world champions, it tees it up so nicely for one of them to have a tilt at becoming drivers’ world champion.”
Can Piastri finish higher than Norris? It’s certainly possible. The 23-year-old Aussie – who has a formidable junior record, winning F3 and F2 in successive years – won twice last year, including a stunningly composed victory on the streets of Baku. It made people sit up and take notice, but Piastri will have to improve an inconsistent qualifying record to be in with a shout.
Many questioned his cojones, his will for the fight in the heat of battle, last year but F1’s ‘Mr Nice Guy’ should not be mistaken for anything other than a fierce competitor. Norris’s efficiency, composure and race craft showed clear signs of improvement as 2024 progressed, particularly after he claimed his first win in Miami last May. Norris’s late season form, coupled with McLaren’s grid-leading car, makes him the man to beat.
And we all need not wait much longer, as it all gets going at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend, on the sunny streets of Albert Park in Melbourne. After a prosperous three-day test in Bahrain, all the momentum is with McLaren in what feels like a seismic moment for the team.
With next year bringing new engine and chassis rules, with an Adrian Newey-led Aston Martin and James Vowles-inspired Williams just two teams eyeing monumental leaps in performance, 2025 certainly feels like it is now or never for McLaren and their star driver.