Christian Danner feels Lando Norris is the faster McLaren driver, yet it still might not be enough for the Briton to beat his teammate Oscar Piastri to win the 2025 F1 title.
The papaya pals are pulling clear of the field after a dominant start to the season. But Norris now trails Piastri by 16 points after six rounds, despite him starting the campaign by opening a 23-point lead over the Australian in Melbourne by winning the first meet from pole position.
Norris beat Piastri to pole at the Australian Grand Prix and withstood the pressure the home hero applied to win. He also withstood the late challenge of Red Bull ace Max Verstappen to win after Piastri spun in the rain. The 24-year-old recovered to take P9 in the season opener.
Yet the momentum has been with the Australian since Piastri took and converted his first F1 pole to win the Chinese Grand Prix. Verstappen took advantage of the new tarmac to win in Japan, yet Piastri went unbeaten through the Bahrain, Saudi Arabian and Miami Grands Prix.
Christian Danner thinks Lando Norris ‘still’ makes the ‘mistakes’ that Oscar Piastri has ‘overcome’
The Miami Grand Prix last Sunday even raised questions for Danner about Norris’ race craft. While Piastri made light work of overtaking Verstappen for the lead, Norris struggled to get past the Red Bull racer and fell from second to sixth place when he sought a move on Lap 1.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
131 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
115 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
99 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
93 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
53 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
41 |
Danner thinks Piastri only makes ‘minor mistakes’, having overcome the sort of errors Norris continues to make. His first lap incident in Florida caused a lot of debate, and even McLaren boss Andrea Stella feels Norris made a mistake in Miami trying to overtake Verstappen at T2.
Danner told sport.de: “In terms of speed, he’s probably even a tiny bit faster than Piastri. But in his Norris world, he still makes mistakes that Piastri has already overcome.”
How Oscar Piastri raced against Max Verstappen in Miami cost Lando Norris
Verstappen gifted Norris every reason to consider trying an overtake at Turn 2 at the start of the Miami GP last Sunday. The Red Bull racer ran deep into T1 trying to out-brake the Briton and it left the door wide open for Norris to switchback and get the run into the next corner.
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Had Verstappen not run Norris off the road at T2, then the attempted overtake would have been worth the Bristol native’s efforts. Instead, he had to recover from sixth place to finish in P2. How Piastri raced Verstappen also made it more difficult for Norris to get by later on.
Piastri’s lines racing Verstappen in Miami offered the Dutchman a chance to learn where he needed to position his car to defend from Norris. So, while it took the Briton longer than his teammate to get past the four-time reigning champion, it was not a true clear-cut situation.
