Lando Norris has taken a firm grip on the 2025 Formula 1 title race after back-to-back victories in Mexico and Brazil.
Oscar Piastri’s crash in the Sprint race at Interlagos and his struggles on low-grip tracks have helped his McLaren teammate extend the gap. Norris dominated both weekends, pushing his lead out to 24 points with just three rounds left.
The Brit is on a great run of form, grabbing five podiums in the last six races. He can afford to finish second in the remaining three races and still win the title, with Piastri and Max Verstappen falling further behind.
Norris has been likened to Lewis Hamilton in how he has found self-confidence during the title fight. It was critical for the seven-time champion’s success with Mercedes, and the McLaren driver has found a way to manage the pressure of the championship battle.
If he holds on, Norris will become Britain’s 11th F1 world champion and McLaren’s first since Lewis Hamilton back in 2008. Guenther Steiner believes if he pulls it off, it would be even more impressive than Jenson Button’s title win in 2009.
Guenther Steiner believes Lando Norris’ comeback would be more impressive than Jenson Button’s 2009 title win
Button never imagined he’d become a world champion, but the opportunity came out of nowhere in 2009. After Ross Brawn took over the team for just £1 following Honda’s exit, Brawn GP suddenly had a car capable of winning the title.
Button realised during pre-season testing that the car had potential, and he made the most of it by winning six of the first seven races. Even though he didn’t win again that season, the early gap he built up was enough to secure the championship over Sebastian Vettel.
For Steiner, what stands out about Norris’ 2025 campaign is how much ground he had to make up. At one point after Zandvoort, he trailed Piastri by more than 30 points.
“Even Jenson, as much as people, as you rightly said, thought he didn’t have it – but he was sitting in a car which at the time was just at an advantage,” Steiner said on The Red Flags Podcast. “So he took that advantage home and did a solid season but didn’t switch it around from within the season.
“But Oscar did until five races ago. Now Lando is doing it. It’s like they [thought] ‘let’s switch roles now – I’m the winner or I’m going to lose’. It’s very weird.”
Lando Norris’ 2025 season turnaround has stunned Guenther Steiner
Norris has surprised many this season, including Steiner, with how quickly he’s turned things around. The former Haas team principal wasn’t expecting this kind of response but admits Norris has proved him wrong.
“Something I didn’t expect, I would say,” he added. “Because I mean, obviously he struggled in season and he got his stuff back together and if he can hold it together, I think he’s on the way to his world championship.
“Because I mean, he’s doing, he didn’t make one mistake the whole weekend, last weekend. And watching him talk, I don’t know, in one of the interviews before the podium after the race when he said all the noises, I just cut them out and I didn’t listen to them.
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“I think that is one of the things if he did. He did pretty well because there was a lot of criticism, mine included. So it’s like admitting to that one but proving me wrong and fair play to him hats off.”
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