Norris demands more from himself after 'average' start to 2025

Even though the Dutchman always enjoyed a healthy cushion, it was Norris that stood the best chance of stopping the 27-year-old from claiming a fourth world title.

Despite ultimately failing to take the crown, he at least managed to comfortably outperform his teammate.

When Piastri spun at the first round of 2025 in Australia (with Verstappen finishing just behind Norris), the consensus was there would be a continuation of last season’s battle.

Of course, this could not have been further from the truth.

Piastri has cemented himself as a Championship contender and, in the eyes of many, the overall favourite.

The Australian has the same number of victories in 2025 (6) as Norris and Verstappen combined, having achieved immense strides in qualifying and on race days.

Piastri has also been praised for his killer instinct, demonstrated most recently with his decisive overtake on Norris at the Belgian GP.

In this context, the #4 car must continue improving to maximise his title chances:

“More just what I’ve been doing in the last month, two months,” Norris told the media in Hungary.

“Prior to that, not good enough. So I’d say, you know, in the harsh way it was pretty average before then.

“Since then, I think things have been a lot stronger. Still want more, still need to do better – I’m not as good as I would like to be.

“But I think a lot of improvements have been made. I’m in a much better place, I’m a lot happier with the car, things like that.

“I feel like I can do a lot more than I’ve been doing, so for that reasons [working to do] just more of the progress that I’ve been making.”

A straight fight between Norris and Piastri

One of Norris’ biggest frustrations at the beginning of 2025 was his lack of comfort in the MCL39.

The 8-time winner was vocal about McLaren’s latest challenger not being well-suited to his driving style.

In recent months, partly thanks to a new suspension McLaren introduced in Canada, Norris has been happier with his car’s balance.

With Red Bull losing out in the mid-season development race, Verstappen’s title prospects have essentially vanished.

This means a direct battle between the McLaren duo will define the rest of 2025. In some ways, this simplifies things for Andrea Stella’s team.

Rather than having to contend with Verstappen, McLaren can be assured they will claim both titles this season.

This essentially gives Piastri and Norris a green light to push the limits to secure the title.