Martin Brundle snubs Lando Norris to name ‘angry’ F1 rival as his 2025 drivers’ title favourite

Martin Brundle has weighed into the Formula 1 drivers’ championship debate and has snubbed McLaren star Lando Norris as his pre-season favourite to win the 2025 title.

The Briton is, for many, the primary contender to clinch the crown this season after McLaren laid down the gauntlet during F1 testing in Bahrain. But Brundle believes one of the 25-year-old’s rivals boasts one clear advantage over Norris that sets him aside as the person to beat.

McLaren had the fastest car in F1 testing with the MCL39 looking strong over the qualifying and race simulations they attempted, especially with Norris at the wheel. So, many now see Norris as the 2025 drivers’ title favourite as he bids to dethrone Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Max Verstappen is Martin Brundle’s 2025 F1 drivers’ title favourite over Lando Norris

While Karun Chandhok backs Norris to win the 2025 drivers’ title, Brundle believes he is not the favourite and instead backs Verstappen to defend the championship again. The Red Bull racer can become just the second driver after Michael Schumacher to win five titles in a row.

Helmut Marko thinks McLaren are 0.3 seconds a lap ahead of Red Bull on race pace after F1 testing in Bahrain. The Milton Keynes crew struggled to dial the RB21 in at the home of the Bahrain Grand Prix as well as their rivals, but Brundle does not think it is enough for Norris.

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Despite Verstappen’s frustration with Red Bull’s car in testing, Brundle feels his experience of winning the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 titles gives the 27-year-old a clear edge over his rivals. He even has a further edge with Red Bull clear that Liam Lawson is Verstappen’s No2.

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see,” Brundle told Sky Sports News (05/03, 13:38). “It looked OK in Bahrain at the test. [Red Bull] were saying that they fixed a lot of last year’s problems. But we also saw Max out on [the] track shaking his head once and spinning up the wheels.

“He was angry because the car went around on him. So, I didn’t sense it was exactly glued to the race track, either. But they were pretty tricky conditions in that pre-season test. So, for me, Max starts the season as the favourite because he’ll be the clear No1 in that team and Red Bull should have fixed it. And he’s so fast, he’s so good.

“He knows how to win multiple world championships. So, does Lewis [Hamilton]. His main rivals don’t yet know how to win any Formula 1 world championships in Charles [Leclerc], Lando, George [Russell], for example, [and] Oscar Piastri, too.”

Max Verstappen will hope Red Bull fix their handling issues from F1 testing

Despite now receiving Brundle’s backing for the 2025 Formula 1 drivers’ championship fight, Verstappen will not feel totally at ease going into the season. Red Bull’s 2025 F1 car alarmed Chandhok during testing in Bahrain as – even with Verstappen – it did not look easy to drive.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

The RB21 is the Milton Keynes squad’s first car without F1 design genius Adrian Newey after his move to Aston Martin and Red Bull have made ‘drastic’ changes to the floor of their new challenger. So, with its handling issues, Verstappen will hope to stay close to Norris early on.

It was Verstappen’s dominance in the early phase of the 2024 season which ultimately took the Dutchman to the drivers’ title last term, as well as his superb consistency after McLaren and Ferrari jumped Red Bull. He won seven of the first 10 Grands Prix to get a decisive lead.