Jolyon Palmer has urged Lando Norris to work out how to stop one problem he has never seen from the McLaren star before as it is ‘costing him’ the F1 championship.
The 25-year-old started the season on the front foot with his victory in the season-opener in Australia even seeing Norris break Max Verstappen’s 1,029-day run at the top of the drivers’ standings. Yet the Briton’s reign lasted 35 days before Oscar Piastri overthrew his teammate.
Piastri was 23 points behind Norris after the Australian Grand Prix, having spun out of P2 in the rain before recovering to P9. But the Melbourne native assumed the lead at McLaren in China and has outscored the Bristol-born pilot by 36 points over the six subsequent rounds.
Norris is also yet to win a Grand Prix or score another pole position since the opening round Down Under. Piastri won the Chinese GP from his first F1 pole and has had three more wins and two more poles through the last six rounds ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Jolyon Palmer feels Lando Norris is making mistakes in qualifying that McLaren ‘haven’t seen’ before
One of the major reasons for Norris’ plight through the last six rounds of the 2025 F1 season has been his qualifying record compared to McLaren teammate Piastri. Palmer also feels the Briton is making mistakes in pursuit of more single-lap speed that he had never seen before.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
146 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
133 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
124 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
99 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
61 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton |
53 |
| 7 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
Imola saw Norris’ latest setback in qualifying last Saturday as Piastri beat Verstappen to pole for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Briton set the fourth-fastest lap time, and conceded after the session that it is ‘not good enough’ to keep struggling in Q3 without knowing why.
Palmer told the BBC: “When you look at Lando last year, he was absolutely thriving. But this year, he’s making mistakes in qualifying that are costing him that we haven’t seen, I have not seen in Lando’s career, to be honest.
“Obviously, Oscar is doing a tremendous job, and he looks absolutely hooked up. But then when you’re Lando, you have to deep dive that. You have to try and work it out.
“He’s struggling to get a feel for the front end of the car. A lot of the mistakes seem to be lock-ups in big braking zones. You’ve got to try and work it out.”
Lando Norris must avoid making any mistakes in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix
It will be crucial for Norris to avoid making any mistakes in qualifying this weekend if he is to stand a strong chance of taking points off Piastri in the Monaco GP. While the 2025 Monaco GP will have two mandatory pit stops, qualifying will be key given how difficult overtaking is.
A lock-up on the streets of the Principality could ruin Norris’ entire weekend. But there will not be a better place for the Briton to prove he can overcome his qualifying problems than Monte Carlo, especially after Norris’ recent admissions after poor performances during Q3s.
Norris called himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 for the Bahrain GP after failing to deliver a tidy Q3 lap, as the Briton finds the MCL39 is not to his liking as much as McLaren’s 2024 car. Norris crashed in qualifying in Saudi Arabia trying to match Piastri after losing time at Turn 4.
