Lando Norris Issued Warning Ahead Of 2025 F1 Championship Title Fight

Saajan Jogia | Dec 18, 2024

Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Sprint Race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (right) and third place finisher Lando Norris of McLaren (left) laugh after the Sprint Race at the Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-Imagn Images / Erich Schlegel-Imagn Images

Former Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg has warned McLaren's Lando Norris to not put himself under a "high-pressure" situation by claiming in advance that he is going to be the world champion next year. Rosberg's advice comes after Norris revealed on team radio after winning the Abu Dhabi season finale that “next year is going to be my year too."

Norris emerged as a strong contender against Max Verstappen for the top spot in the Drivers' Standings this year, thanks to McLaren's transformative upgrades to the MCL38 following the Miami Grand Prix. The upgrades propelled the team to the forefront of the F1 grid, strengthening its position in the Constructors' Championship and ultimately securing its first title in 26 years.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Norris, who found himself trailing Verstappen by nearly 40 points at one stage of the season. Verstappen's resurgence began with a dominant performance at the United States Grand Prix, where his RB20 came alive after persistent balance issues. This momentum, capped by a victory in Brazil, ultimately secured Verstappen's championship triumph in Las Vegas.

Norris, who remains optimistic about his prospects for 2025, has received advice from Rosberg to avoid the added pressure of declaring himself a future world champion. Rosberg cautioned that such statements could become an unnecessary burden. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, the former Mercedes driver said:

“One, do not make the mistake and start building yourself towards ‘I am the favourite, everything else but winning is going to be a failure.

“On the one hand, we love to see it as spectators but for him, it’s probably not the best path.

“In Abu Dhabi on the cooldown lap he said in the car, ‘next year is my year’ - that’s something that I would actually recommend him not to do.

“It’s just an unnecessary pressure expectation dynamic that you kick-off. If you want, do it internally, whatever, but not externally.

“That was one of the keys to me winning my world championship, and especially for someone like Lando, who is, I would say, not the very, very strongest, most settled mentally – I was that profile, a lot of inner demons and doubts, and always glass [half] empty, rather than glass [half] full – and therefore, for him, I really highly recommend that he would take it race by race.”

With Formula 1 starting the 2025 season with the Australian Grand Prix, Rosberg recommends Norris approach the season race-by-race rather than target the championship as a whole. He added:

“Melbourne he’s going there because he wants to win the race, and then the one after you win the race, but not go ‘champion, champion, that’s all that matters.

“That is something I would highly recommend, because it just decompresses everything, takes the expectation out, takes the pressure out, reduces the load.

“It’s super important, because being the favourite for a championship, and then immersing yourself into that vibe of, ‘yeah, I’m the favourite’, it just such a high-pressure situation, which you want to avoid as much as possible.”