Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will have title aspirations with McLaren for the 2025 Formula 1 season after missing out last term.
McLaren revelled in a successful upgrade package introduced for the Miami GP, ushering in Norris’ maiden win and putting the fight to Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
The Woking-based outfit arguably had the strongest car from here on in, but Norris and McLaren didn’t quite have enough to wrestle the Drivers’ crown away from the flying Dutchman.
Still, maiden wins for both drivers helped bring McLaren its first Constructors’ title in 26 years last season.
Going into 2025 atop the pecking order, McLaren’s drivers will be looking to fight for a maiden Drivers’ title from the off.
Oscar Piastri
Piastri made a strong step in his sophomore F1 campaign in 2024 taking his first GP wins.
The second at Baku was a masterclass in high-stakes defence lap after lap against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but the Australian is by no means the finished article.
After contributing to McLaren’s Constructors’ title, there was a startling stat in Piastri’s season.
The Australian was out-qualified by team-mate Lando Norris on 20 occasions and has to improve his one-lap pace if he is to challenge for the Drivers’ title in 2025.
He has acknowledged this already, saying: “I think this season, I feel like I’ve made some good steps forward.
“There’s still room to go. I think, you know, the biggest one has been leaving a few too many positions on the table in qualifying.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really made life easy for myself in the races, in that aspect.
“So, I think that’s definitely the big focus of the off-season, just trying to get those last hundredths, last tenths.
“Because I feel like in all the other areas, I’ve been able to show what I’m capable of. And also show that I’ve improved from my rookie season.
“So, again, I feel like it’s now just putting everything together. Because I feel like the gaps now are very, very small or non-existent.
“It’s just that if I can get it all together, then I’ll be on my way, I think.”
Lando Norris
Lando No-wins was no more in 2024 as the McLaren ace finally took his maiden F1 victory at Miami.
Norris added three more as he mounted an ill-fated championship challenge up against the mighty Verstappen.
McLaren is the odds-on favourite in 2025 and Norris will need to go all-out attack to claim an elusive maiden F1 title.
He was criticised for not being ruthless enough up against Verstappen last year and it was clear he didn’t quite have the measure of the best driver on the F1 grid.
Still, after clinching McLaren’s Constructors’ crown with a faultless win in the season-finale at Abu Dhabi, Norris made his intentions for 2025 clear.
“We want to win the Constructors’. We want to win the Drivers’ next year,” Norris said in parc ferme after his final win of the 2024 season.
“I made my mistakes this year, but I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve learned a lot from Max and my competitors around me.
“As much as I’m happy now, I’m excited to get next year going.”
In the following press conference, Norris added: “I didn’t have what it took this season to fight against Max and deliver what I needed to deliver.
“But it certainly gave me the feeling of, ‘OK, if I improve this little bit here, this little bit here’, for the first time, I have confidence in saying I’ve definitely got what it takes.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris had faith he could deliver McLaren F1 title when Oscar Piastri was span round
