Martin Brundle pinpoints familiar Lando Norris ‘problem’ that could cost him the 2025 F1 championship

Lando Norris was unable to match teammate Oscar Piastri throughout the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend at McLaren.

The McLaren driver could not match Piastri in the final two practice sessions and looked off in the race runs, while he could only manage the sixth-fastest time in qualifying.

Norris was downbeat after the qualifying session having been unable to find the time to start on the front row, and will instead start ahead of Max Verstappen who battled with brake issues.

Martin Brundle thinks Norris’s demeanour when speaking to the media is something that his rivals will pick up on, when discussing his response to the problems he faced qualifying on Sky Sports F1.

Martin Brundle thinks Lando Norris has a ‘problem’ with the way he handles F1 media

Norris is usually quite self-deprecating when speaking to the media after a tough session, with him at least three tenths off Piastri’s best.

While it is good for Norris to have some sense of introspective after a tough day, Brundle has pointed out one of the problems with his strategy.

“How Lando manages it down, he sort of beats himself up and when his disappointment juices are flowing, that’s how he works it. I think he tries to manage down the pressure as well, but to use words like ‘clueless’ – He’s leading the world championship for goodness sake,” said Brundle.

“The problem with that strategy is that it feeds your rivals. Piastri, Leclerc, and Verstappen must look at that and think ‘Wow, there is a soft underbelly somewhere there we can get into.”

Could team orders become too much of a headache for McLaren?

Piastri and Norris have already been the subject of team orders this year, notably at the Australian Grand Prix when McLaren intervened before a pit stop.

Damon Hill expects ‘trouble’ between Piastri and Norris to brew as the season goes on, as neither driver will want to give up on their title aspirations.

But as Red Bull begins to improve their car and rivals Mercedes and Ferrari improve theirs, there might be no option for McLaren if they continue to take points off eachother.

Piastri wants to be a team leader at McLaren, especially now that he has committed his future to them beyond the 2026 season. Norris has been at the team longer, but Piastri could take over that if he has a strong enough season.