Lando Norris slams ‘short-sighted’ comments over McLaren being favorites for 2025
Lando Norris was far from happy after McLaren was labeled as the favorites for the 2025 season by pundits across the paddock.
Follow Us
Lando Norris (via Planetf1)
McLaren emerged as the surprise package of 2024. The Woking-based squad managed to win its first constructors’ title since 1998. Albeit Lando Norris lost the drivers’ championship to Max Verstappen after a fierce battle. Nevertheless, the expectations for the British team are high for this season. Now, Norris has hit out at pundits for already labeling McLaren as the favorites.
The entire paddock kept a close eye on McLaren during preseason testing in Bahrain. One run by Lando Norris caught everyone’s attention as many believed that Woking was going to have the upper hand from the first race in Melbourne. Even Max Verstappen claimed that the British team will be the fastest this year.
Lando Norris pointed out that only a single run made everyone think that McLaren has a big advantage over the rest of the grid. He acknowledged that it was a good stint. However, Norris emphasized that he was driving in near-perfect conditions during the run, which would simply not be the case for the majority of the season.
It was really, it was just my one race run I did that made everyone believe this [advantage] quite heavily. It was a good race run, but it was also in the most perfect conditions.
Lando Norris told F1i.com
As such, the British driver was not happy with the short-sighted views in the paddock which have already declared McLaren as the favorites for the title. The 25-year-old was amused to see such conclusions being made even before the first race of the season.
So I’m quite surprised so many people are so short-sighted, especially people you wouldn’t expect to be, making so many conclusions before you even start the season.
Lando Norris said
Lando Norris claims rivals want to be ‘underdogs’
Moreover, the British driver claimed that the rest of the grid simply wanted to make themselves look like the underdogs in comparison to McLaren. Norris hinted that this was just a way for teams to play down their own prospects and claim that the Woking-based team was going to be the ones to beat in every race.
Everyone just wants to play that game of looking like the underdog and playing it down.
Lando Norris stated
Nevertheless, Lando Norris made it clear that McLaren was not going to be bothered by such comments. Rather, the 25-year-old was glad to see the entire grid hyping up his team’s chances for this season. So much so, that Norris called it a great publicity campaign for the reigning world champions.
We just focus on ourselves and it’s nice that so many people are thinking about us and talking about us. Great publicity for us so I thank all of them.
Lando Norris added
Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri kicked off the Australian GP weekend with strong performances in free practice. Piastri finished FP2 in second place, just over a tenth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. While Norris was right behind his teammate in third place. Though, it is likely that teams are hiding their real pace till Qualifying on Saturday.
Can McLaren defend F1 title in 2025?
McLaren does have a strong package this year. The Woking-based team has seemed highly confident so far. Though, the real test will only be on Sunday, Norris and Piastri might indeed have the best car on the grid for the time being.
However, the fight at the front will not be easy this year. Even if McLaren has a performance advantage, it will be marginal against the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari. If the team makes even small errors, it could potentially cost them a race victory. As such, Zak Brown‘s squad will need to keep its head down and focus on getting the maximum out of the car at every race.
The Australian GP presents the perfect opportunity for the reigning world champions to get the momentum for the year. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be pushing themselves to fight for victory on Sunday. Though, it is likely that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari will make things difficult for the Papaya team. As such, fans need to wait and see how things pan out for McLaren in the main race on Sunday.
Stay Updated!
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)