Lando Norris is ‘terrified’ whenever he sees F1 driver with 19% pole hit rate near his McLaren

Lando Norris begins the 2025 Formula 1 campaign as the pre-season title favourite with McLaren believed to have the quickest car on the grid after testing in Bahrain.

The 25-year-old emerged as a title contender for the first time in his F1 career last year after McLaren returned to fighting for frequent race wins. His Woking natives’ upgrades in Miami last year helped Norris become a Grand Prix winner for the first time and claim four all term.

But Norris proved unable to overcome the deficit he faced to Max Verstappen after Red Bull launched 2024 in dominant fashion. The 27-year-old arrived in Miami leading the F1 drivers’ championship with a 52-point lead over Norris in P5 which he stretched to 63 by year’s end.

Lando Norris is ‘terrified’ whenever Max Verstappen is near his McLaren

Yet the shoe is now expected to be on the other foot as F1 testing proved McLaren have the best car on the 2025 grid. While the technical regulations have largely remained the same in the last year of the current rules, McLaren made key changes to their 2025 car’s suspension.

Karun Chandhok has even stated that Norris is the pre-season favourite for the 2025 drivers’ title. Yet a report by Marca now suggests that while Red Bull might have the third-fastest car after testing, Verstappen has already won the mental battle as Norris is ‘terrified’ of his rival.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

How Norris discussed his upcoming battle with Verstappen, as the Dutchman bids to be just the second ever driver after Michael Schumacher to win five drivers’ titles in a row, showed the Briton is petrified whenever the Red Bull star is near his car after their turbulent run-ins.

What has Lando Norris said about Max Verstappen after F1 testing?

Verstappen and Norris came to blows a few times during their title fight last year, which the McLaren man seldom won. Only when Verstappen received two penalties for forcing Norris off the road in Mexico did the Red Bull racer lose out to the Briton over the 2024 campaign.

Their first major incident came when Verstappen hit Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix, which forced the latter to retire whilst the Dutchman still sealed P5 after a 10-second time penalty. Verstappen also got a mental edge by punishing Norris’ poor start at the Spanish Grand Prix.

F1’s visit to Mexico City also followed Norris’ time penalty for overtaking Verstappen off the road at the United States Grand Prix. The Briton lost out on a podium finish at COTA despite him only leaving the road after Verstappen ran him off for the second time in the same race.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

So, while the dust from their 2024 duels may have settled, Norris stated at F1 testing at the home of the Bahrain Grand Prix that he expects to have further close fights with Verstappen in 2025. The McLaren man is also ‘sure’ that his Red Bull rival will win some of their clashes.

“I think we both look forward to more of last year, more battles,” Norris noted in Bahrain. “I know they’re going to be tough battles, and I’m sure some of them are not always going to end the way I want or, hopefully, Max wants. But we’re racing drivers, I think we get along.”

Verstappen will head to the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix with 63 career wins (30.14% of his Grand Prix starts), 40 pole positions (19.14%) and 112 podiums (53.59%) yet. Norris, meanwhile, has four wins (3.13%), nine poles (7.03%) and 26 podiums (20.31%) yet.