Lando Norris lays down gauntlet to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen with aggressive vow | F1 | Sport




Lando Norris has pledged that he is ‘ready to bring the fight to everyone’ in the 2025 season as he looks to beat the likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to the Drivers’ Championship title.

Norris enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2024, securing his first four Grand Prix victories and eight pole positions, dominating team-mate Oscar Piastri in the process. Unfortunately for the Brit, a handful of big mistakes combined with Verstappen’s immense damage limitation work cost him a true shot at a maiden drivers’ title.

That said, his pole-to-victory performance that dragged McLaren to the Constructors’ Championship crown in Abu Dhabi was a warning shot to the rest of the field, and Norris heads into the 2025 season as the man to beat, providing his team deliver race-winning machinery once again.

"It's been a year where, actually, I've been pretty proud of my performance. Proud of performing under the pressure that we've been under, delivering when I have," Norris told the BBC’s ‘F1: Back at Base’ podcast.

"I've made my mistakes, and, at the same time, I've learned a lot from those mistakes. So for us to go into next year, going 'we have what it takes, we have a car'... I believe I'm a good enough driver, and I've got everything it takes. I'm excited to go into 2025 knowing I've learned a lot, I've improved a lot, and I'm ready to bring the fight to everyone.

"Confidence is something I've struggled with in the past, and probably I've only built enough up throughout this season to go: 'I'm confident that I'm a good enough driver to win a championship next year' and I can bring a fight to whoever wants to fight me for it."

With Ferrari close in the rearview mirror, team principal Andrea Stella is warding off complacency in the McLaren camp. "It will be incredibly naive to think that because we achieved the constructor championship, now we deserve it for the future," he said.

"Something that you have to deserve by doing a good job and, in a way, by doing a better job than you have done in 2024, and it was important to discuss the many opportunities we have to do better.

“We have achieved the 2024 constructors' championship, but the performance advantage we had was 0.04 per cent on average, and the points margin we had was two per cent.

"Over 666 points in a season, these margins simply mean that if you don't do better next year, then you have to be ready to face a loss. We don't want to face a loss. We want to continue winning, therefore, we need to raise the bar for the future."



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Posted: 2025-01-22 15:38:53

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