Ralf Schumacher Asserts Lando Norris Set to Play Second Fiddle to Oscar Piastri for 2025 Title

Ralf Schumacher reckoned that McLaren has decided to support Oscar Piastri rather than Lando Norris in the 2025 title race.

Ralf Schumacher Asserts Lando Norris Set to Play Second Fiddle to Oscar Piastri for 2025 Title

Lando Norris, Ralf Schumacher, and Oscar Piastri (images via IMAGO)

McLaren are the favorites for the 2025 F1 world title. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have found themselves in a close contest against each other this season. This has increased pressure within the team, with the former being more prone to making mistakes. Now, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has declared that McLaren has already picked its favorite for this battle.

Last season, Lando Norris emerged as a title contender against Max Verstappen. The British driver was given complete support by McLaren, going as far as giving team orders to Piastri. Unfortunately, Norris did not live up to expectations and lost the title race. This year, things have been far different.

It is Oscar Piastri who has virtually dominated the season. The Australian driver has won five races so far, compared to his teammate’s two victories. Moreover, Norris’ collision at the Canadian GP has only made matters worse.

Ralf Schumacher was confident that internally McLaren has already decided to shift its complete focus to Oscar Piastri. The German claimed that Norris’ performances and mistakes would have severely hampered his position within Woking. Schumacher reckoned that the Briton was a beautiful person considering the way he immediately apologised for the Canadian GP crash. However, the F1 veteran hinted that at the end of the day, nice guys never go on to win world titles.

I think it has been decided internally that Piastri will be the man the team will focus on. Lando is showing too much weakness and is making too many mistakes. Added to this is the way he handled the situation after the incident with Piastri. He apologized and this shows that he is a beautiful person, but beautiful people rarely win the titles.

Ralf Schumacher told Sky Germany

Lando Norris aware of ‘small mistake risk’ in title race

The 25-year-old is one of the most popular drivers in Formula 1 right now, with a massive fanbase. This might be adding more pressure on Lando Norris’ shoulders as he tries to make his fans happy. Though, once inside the cockpit, the Briton would only be focusing on results. Yet, Ralf Schumacher pointed out one trait that might be further impacting his results.

Lando Norris (via McLaren)
Lando Norris (via McLaren)

Norris is known to be too self-critical in Formula 1. This trait of the McLaren star is even claimed to be his Achilles heel. Ralf Schumacher asserted that there is no way that a complete turnaround could be made in this regard. Though, the German pointed out that Lando Norris was aware that he can fight for the title, but at the same time, he knew that even one mistake can thrash his ambitions.

You can’t change a cow into a tiger. Lando knows he can do it, but he also knows he can throw it away with a small mistake.

Ralf Schumacher noted

Certainly, there is a lot of work to do for Lando Norris if he wants to stay on equal footing with Oscar Piastri at McLaren. So far, the 25-year-old has given no reason to his team to have a fair title fight without team orders. Though, the Woking-based squad has not publicly declared such plans yet. Thus, Norris needs to start firing on all cylinders to ensure that he can continue his bid to win the championship this year.

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