Martin Brundle tells Lando Norris one thing the McLaren driver must ‘realise’ after losing F1 championship lead

Lando Norris won his first Formula 1 race at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix but arrived for the 2025 race trailing McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ championship.

The past year has seen Norris transform from a leading midfield driver into a title contender in line with McLaren charging to become constructors’ champions. But after the 25-year-old took the lead in the standings in round one, he is 10 points shy of Piastri ahead of round six.

Norris dethroned four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull after 1,029 days by winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. He even opened a 23-point lead over Piastri as the Melbourne native spun whilst running in P2 at home, before recovering to P9.

Yet the momentum has been with the 24-year-old since round two and especially in the last two meets. Piastri scored a dominant Bahrain Grand Prix win from pole to punish Norris for qualifying in P6 and won from P2 in Saudi Arabia as the Briton came P4 after crashing in Q3.

Martin Brundle urges Lando Norris to ‘realise’ he can win any F1 race after Oscar Piastri took the championship lead

Norris called himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 in Bahrain and cracked under the pressure Piastri was applying next time out, as well. Norris crashed in Q3 for the Saudi Arabian GP by trying to match the speed that his teammate had carried through Turn 4 during Q1 and Q2.

Piastri winning in Jeddah even saw the Australian rise to the top of the F1 drivers’ standings for the first time in his career. And Martin Brundle feels Norris’ mindset has changed having fallen behind, but he must also ‘realise’ he can win any race given his victory at Albert Park.

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Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (02/05, 17:04): “I think his head is perhaps a bit [like the] pressure is off him. He’s now not leading the championship. He’s now the hunter.

“He has all the talent [and] all the speed. He’s prepared all of his life for this moment. And what he should realise is that the race victory in Melbourne, if you can win that race, you can win anything, basically, in a Formula 1 car. But he’s got some tough competition.”

Lando Norris overcame almost every possible challenge to win the Australian Grand Prix

Norris overcame almost everything he could possibly face to win the Australian GP and set a benchmark that Brundle feels can encourage the McLaren driver in his fight with Piastri over the 2025 drivers’ title. He even had a chance to reset during the break before the Miami GP.

After Piastri set the benchmark with a 1:15.180 lap time around Albert Park in March, Norris took pole for the Australian GP by 0.084 seconds to his McLaren teammate. The Briton then drove a near-faultless race to withstand the home hero’s pressure in difficult wet conditions.

The only blemish on his copybook in Melbourne was after Norris ran deep at Turn 12 on Lap 44/57. But he managed to hold on just enough to avoid spinning like Piastri would as he also ran deep. Norris then withstood the pressure from Verstappen to win in the rain by 0.895s.