Max Verstappen hasn’t had much competition over the last few years as he romped his way to four consecutive titles with Red Bull.
The Dutch driver faced some heat from McLaren and Lando Norris this year, but they fell short after a poor start to the season left them too far behind.
Liam Lawson is Verstappen’s next Red Bull teammate and will partner him from 2025 which should give him a bit more competition.
Red Bull also needs to develop their car over the winter to avoid falling too far behind their rivals who ended the season ahead of them on pure pace.
Jolyon Palmer claims Norris was bullied by Verstappen in 2024 as they came to blows at races in Spielberg, Mexico City and Austin.
It might mean that the Brit will approach his title challenge differently next year as he looks to end the reigning champions’ incredible winning run.
Lando Norris is ‘ready’ to win a world championship in 2025
2025 will be Norris’ seventh straight season at McLaren. They’re the only team that he has driven for and his patience has paid off.
There were multiple occasions where he could’ve jumped ship and moved to a rival team but he kept faith in his colleagues.
Now it rewards him with the best chance of anyone on the grid to claim his maiden Drivers’ Championship in 2025.
READ MORE: Oscar Piastri has been even worse than Daniel Ricciardo in vital part of Lando Norris McLaren battle
Speaking to RacingNews365, Tom Coronel backed the 24-year-old to win next year and thinks that he’s ready for it.
“I think that Norris is now ready to win a championship,” he said. “[He] has made a lot of mistakes, learned a lot on the road again. Found the speed, found the peace in the team.
“That would be really funny if that’s going to be one next year together with Max, maybe Russell too, then maybe Hamilton.”
Why Lando Norris should be the favourite for the F1 title in 2025
Ending the season with a classy win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to end a 16-year title drought proved that Norris is ready to stand up and be counted when it matters most.
Teammate Oscar Piastri was hit by Verstappen early in the race and their entire hopes hinged on the Brit’s ability to drive a calm and measured race.
He won with relative ease in the end and it was an excellent display of why they are the fastest team in the sport currently.
READ MORE: The historic ‘non-aggression pact’ that Oscar Piastri stuck to with first-lap Monza move on Lando Norris
Unless their rivals can make major inroads over the winter they should resume play in a similar position to where they were in 2024.
He’s also made the bulk of his mistakes now and has hopefully learned from them. The experience he gathered this year will be pivotal in future championship challenges.
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