Lewis Hamilton proved Lando Norris ‘lacked’ two ‘necessary’ things Oscar Piastri showed in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lando Norris has lost the lead of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship to his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, after the Australian won the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Briton had led the standings since the first race of the term, yet Norris is now 10 points off Piastri after round five. The 25-year-old has also been outscored by the 24-year-old by 24 points since Norris won the Australian Grand Prix from pole position and Piastri came P9.

Spinning whilst running in P2 in the late rain at his home event has been the sole blunder on Piastri’s copybook so far in the 2025 F1 season. Norris, on the other hand, has now wasted a further chance for big points after his latest disappointing qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP.

Lando Norris ‘lacked’ the ‘necessary cleverness’ in his Saudi Arabian GP fight with Lewis Hamilton

McLaren endured a frustrating Q3 last Saturday as Norris crashed in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP without posting a lap time in the top-10 shootout. Red Bull star Max Verstappen also denied Piastri pole position by only 0.010 seconds in a last-gasp duel to top the session.

It left the Bristol-born pilot playing catch-up for the second week running after Norris called himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 for the Bahrain GP whilst Piastri took pole. His recovery in Jeddah was also stunted once Norris caught quicker cars, whilst the Australian would win.

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

And Christian Danner feels Norris’ fight with Ferrari ace Lewis Hamilton in the Saudi Arabian GP especially showed some key differences between the McLaren pilots. It took Norris three goes to overtake his compatriot for P6 as Hamilton outsmarted him on Laps 12 and 13 of 50.

“He once again messed up qualifying and had to start the race from 10th place,” Danner told sport.de. “Despite a reversed strategy, he quickly overtook the slower cars. However, the Briton had a much harder time with Lewis Hamilton in the significantly slower Ferrari.

“Using a ruse (a counterattack in the second DRS zone), Hamilton managed to keep Norris behind twice in a row. This cost him tyre wear and ultimately laps, which he needed to overtake Charles Leclerc at the end of the race despite his tyre advantage.

“Once again, the supposed world championship contender lacked the necessary overview and cleverness. The difference between Norris and his teammate Piastri and defending champion Verstappen is currently obvious when you see how hard the two main rivals for the world championship lead are fighting in the race.”

Oscar Piastri showed his ‘cleverness’ with a sensational Saudi Arabian GP overtake on Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton was too wise for Norris when the McLaren ace first saw an opportunity to pass the seven-time F1 drivers’ championship winner at the end of L12. The Ferrari star fooled Norris to overtake him into the last corner to ensure Hamilton got DRS and could re-pass him at T1.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Norris seemed to learn from their initial fight come the end of L13 when Hamilton eased off the throttle earlier to force the McLaren man to dive down his inside again at Turn 27. But it gave Norris a chance to run Hamilton wide, yet DRS again played to the Ferrari star’s benefit.

So, it took three bites of the cherry for Norris to pass the 40-year-old, who Piastri would also later have to overtake after pitting. Yet McLaren learned from it and Norris’ engineer helped Piastri pass Hamilton in the Saudi Arabian GP after telling him not to fall into the same trap.

Norris’ engineer Will Joseph told Piastri’s right-hand man Tom Stallard to urge the Australian to make his move on Hamilton into T1 to avoid giving up DRS. Yet Piastri ignored McLaren to overtake Hamilton in the Saudi Arabian GP with a sensational run around the outside at T21.