The 2024 Formula 1 season was spent wondering whether anyone would be able to catch Max Verstappen on his way to a fourth championship.
Throughout the campaign, two drivers stood out as the strongest candidates to hunt down Verstappen: Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen drove beautifully all year and after a game-changing performance during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, winning from 17th on the grid, he wrapped up the title in Las Vegas.
It meant going into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Norris and Leclerc were fighting for second in the Drivers’ Championship.
David Coulthard thought Leclerc was perfect in Abu Dhabi, but his recovery drive from P19 to third wasn’t enough to topple Norris who led from start to finish to help McLaren win the Constructors’ title.
Norris ultimately finished 18 points ahead of the Ferrari driver, although both F1 race winners will fancy their chances of earning their first championship in 2025 as Red Bull are unlikely to start the campaign with the same advantage that they had this year.
However, a statistic shared by the official Formula 1 Instagram account has split F1 fans.
Charles Leclerc’s supporters now believe he’s a stronger driver than Norris after seeing how the points were split behind the two drivers over the course of the 2024 campaign.
How Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris compared during the 2024 F1 season
The post from Formula 1 showed how the points were split across the first third, middle third and final third of the season.
For context, Verstappen scored 169, 134 and 134 points respectively across each third of the campaign.
Leclerc outscored Norris 138 to 133 up to the Monaco Grand Prix, before Norris outperformed the Monegasque driver 128 to 79 between the Canadian Grand Prix and Monza.
During the final eight races, Leclerc finished ahead of Norris by six points (139-133) and this elicited a response from his fans that he was the stronger driver between the two.
One fan said: “This really puts into perspective how non-existent Lando’s ‘title fight’ was,” while another agreed and added: “So interesting that at no point Lando was scoring more than Max over eight races.”
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Another fan commented: “Leclerc could have been champ without the five races where the car became slow.”
Leclerc’s advantage over Verstappen was then pointed out, with a fan explaining: “Leclerc actually outperformed Verstappen [over the last eight races]! He’s clearly better than Lando in [a] good car.”
Two fans then pointed out where it went wrong for Leclerc, suggesting: “Crazy to think what would’ve been different if Leclerc didn’t have that awful three-race stretch after Canada,” and “If Leclerc had a good middle stint…”
Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris hoping to go one better during the 2025 F1 season
Both Leclerc and Norris will recognise that next season may be their best chance to win a championship against Verstappen.
Red Bull are unlikely to improve drastically over the winter, meaning Ferrari and McLaren should theoretically have the fastest cars in 2025.
| 2024 | Lando Norris | Charles Leclerc |
| Pole Positions | 8 | 3 |
| Fastest Laps | 6 | 3 |
| Podiums | 13 | 13 |
| Wins | 4 | 3 |
| Points | 374 | 356 |
| Position | 2nd | 3rd |
Norris and Leclerc will both have to win their intra-team battles before concentrating on each other which will be easier said than done.
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Oscar Piastri may have aided Norris this year when he was trying to close the gap to Verstappen, but won’t be giving up any positions to his teammate next year.
For Leclerc, he has to get the better of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton which will be his most difficult feat in F1 despite the brilliant form Carlos Sainz was in this season.
If they can both achieve those goals, then a Norris vs Leclerc championship fight could be on the cards, although it’s impossible to rule out Verstappen from any title challenge.
