Lando Norris had his breakout season in 2024 as he challenged Max Verstappen for the championship, but ultimately failed to end the Dutchman’s dominance.
The Brit arguably had the fastest car on the grid from when he won his first F1 race at the Miami Grand Prix. As Red Bull suffered a drop in performance, McLaren surged forward and looked to take the fight to their rivals.
Norris and Verstappen clashed numerous times on track, but ultimately, the latter held on. Despite having a difficult car to drive, Verstappen did what was required and sealed his fourth consecutive title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, beating Norris by 63 points.
While they defended their drivers’ title, Red Bull could not hold onto their constructors’ championship as they finished third behind McLaren and Ferrari. The two teams battled at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the crown, and despite Oscar Piastri’s collision with Verstappen at turn one, the Woking-based outfit won out over Ferrari by 14 points.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
666 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
652 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
589 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
468 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
94 |
| 6 |
Alpine F1 Team |
65 |
| 7 |
Haas F1 Team |
58 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
4 |
The title marks the first since 1998 for McLaren, demonstrating their incredible rise through the field over the last 18 months. Understandably, the team’s celebrations were huge – Zak Brown was left in disbelief by McLaren’s owners as they turned Bahrain’s capital city Manama papaya, the same colour as the team’s livery.
McLaren won six races in 2024 – Norris winning four of them as he showed blistering pace throughout the season, particularly on a Saturday.
Lando Norris becomes the fourth McLaren driver to secure eight pole positions in a season
Norris grabbed eight pole positions in 2024 – the joint-most alongside Verstappen across the season. And speaking on the Drive to Wynn YouTube channel, Justin Bell pointed out that this feat is something Lewis Hamilton never achieved while he was at McLaren.
The 24-year-old becomes only the fourth McLaren driver to secure eight poles in a single season. Hamilton just misses out on that list, as in his six years with the Woking-based outfit, the most he achieved in a year was seven – doing so in his title-winning 2008 season and his final year with the team in 2012.
Talking about Norris’ season and his aims for 2025, Bell said: “As Lando said, this was his race, this was their year and next year is going to be his year. By that, I’m sure he means he’s going to win the world championship, so that’s the kind of confidence we needed him to have.
“And an interesting little titbit, Lando Norris is only one of four McLaren drivers ever to get eight or more poles in a season, and the other ones were Mika Hakkinen, Ayrton Senna and James Hunt, so I’m sure that’s a nice record to have to his name.”
Can Lando Norris challenge for the world title in 2025?
After the 2024 season finale, it would be fair to argue that Norris and McLaren are the ones to beat next season, and many key figures certainly see it that way.
Martin Brundle has Norris as his favourite to win the title as he now has the confidence to fight at the front consistently.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
However, it is clear that the Brit has work to do during the winter break, as while the pace was there, he lacked the sharpness to properly challenge Verstappen and Red Bull.
By battling the Dutchman on track in 2024, the McLaren driver will have learned a lot about how to go about racing Verstappen in 2025 and will be more prepared for the title fight next season.
Nico Rosberg has urged Norris to drive karts during the winter to stay sharp and give himself the best possible chance to achieve his claim that next year is his year.
