Alain Prost was struck by how Lando Norris grew into his first drivers’ title, though the McLaren star still doesn’t quite have what sets Max Verstappen apart.
Prost didn’t see Norris as “outstanding” in the early going while Oscar Piastri held control of the standings. Despite an early 23-point cushion, Norris trailed his teammate by 10 after just four Grands Prix and a Sprint.
Norris kicked off the year with a win in Australia, fending off both Piastri and Verstappen before rain caught out the home favourite. But mistakes in qualifying began to add up, and Piastri continued to pull ahead.
Things got worse after Norris retired from round 15 in the Netherlands. His gap to Piastri had grown to 34 points – his biggest deficit of the season – and it looked like he might fall short again. But he responded by outscoring his teammate in every one of the next six rounds to claim his first championship.
Alain Prost says Lando Norris still doesn’t have ‘the same grit’ as Max Verstappen
Prost admires how Norris managed to recover and overtake Piastri to win the 2025 title, finishing just two points ahead of Verstappen and 13 clear of his teammate. It was a remarkable comeback, especially as Verstappen closed a 104-point gap to Piastri over the final nine races.
Norris held a slight edge in that span, outscoring Verstappen by just five points. But the key moment came in round 22 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix when he took back-to-back wins while Verstappen had to settle for third in both events. That stretch swung the momentum and secured Norris the title.
“Max and his team were on their own,” Prost said via SPEEDWEEK. “Their main rival, McLaren, shared most of the wins with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“Especially this season, a top driver had to be resilient and mentally strong, and Norris often was. Lando wasn’t outstanding at the start of the season, but then he turned things around within the team.
“At the same time, in my view, Norris doesn’t have the same grit as Verstappen. And it will be exciting to see what kind of Norris we’ll see in 2026 now that he’s world champion.”
Lando Norris bounced back from multiple mistakes to win the 2025 F1 title
Verstappen got everything he could out of his Red Bull RB21 early in the season, even when the McLaren MCL39 was clearly ahead. The MCL39 handled heat especially well, managing rear tyre temperatures better than any other car on the grid.
Norris didn’t make the most of McLaren’s strong start and paid for it with qualifying errors in China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He also crashed into Piastri late in Canada, missing out on what could have been a crucial result.
Piastri took full control of the championship after Norris retired from the Dutch GP due to an oil fitting failure. It was one of only two mechanical retirements across all teams that year and cost him what could’ve been a vital 18 points.
Norris’s rivals only failed to finish when Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli took Verstappen out at Austria and when Piastri crashed in Azerbaijan. The double disqualification for McLaren in Las Vegas also hurt both drivers — Norris lost a second-place finish while Piastri dropped from fourth.
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