Lando Norris finished the 2024 season on a high, helping McLaren to clinch the constructors title. Looking ahead to next year, Norris wants the drivers’ Championship – and believes he can make the necessary step.
After a dominant 2023 campaign, Max Verstappen was made to work for his fourth World Championship.
Lando Norris was his main challenger this year, with the 25-year-old emerging as a title contender with his Miami victory.
The MCL38 put Norris within touching distance of Verstappen until the Brazil GP, where a masterclass from the Dutchman effectively ended Norris’ hopes.
Verstappen’s win at Interlagos, among other races, showed there is a notable gap between himself and Norris.
Despite McLaren’s performance advantage throughout the year, the Dutchman secured the title with three rounds to go.
Whilst admitting there is room for improvement, Norris is confident about raising his level in 2025:
“I think this year I’ve proved not everything is where it needs to be,” he told Sky Sports.
“But even since those moments, I feel like I’ve improved a lot in the last quarter and second half of the year – a huge amount…
“I have confidence that I can fight against Max [Verstappen], and I can fight against Charles [Leclerc],” Norris explained.
“And all these other drivers who are just as capable of winning championships – even Lewis and stuff like that next year. So I have what it takes.
“Yes, I need to improve in areas, and certain areas are not up to the level they need to be.
“And I’m going to work hard over the winter to improve on them. But I’ll do that, and we’ll fight.”
It would be inaccurate to suggest that McLaren were the fastest team at every race this weekend.
Ferrari were extremely competitive after the Italian GP upgrades, which corrected their mid-season performance dip and made them regular contenders for wins.
Meanwhile, Mercedes were on the rise heading into the summer break.
At Canada, Silverstone and Belgium, the W15 was capable of matching McLaren’s MCL38.
Whilst they lost ground over the summer, the Silver Arrows were still a thorn in Norris’ side.
Even with their COTA upgrades failing to deliver initially, Mercedes returned to the top step with a dominant 1-2 in Las Vegas – as James Allison’s technical team optimised their package.
With all this in mind, Lando Norris faced plenty of challenges this season.
However, the McLaren driver will expect even stiffer resistance in 2025.
The likes of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could easily join Verstappen as Championship contenders.
In this environment, Norris must perform at a higher level than he did in this year’s campaign.
Although McLaren’s advantage this year was not overwhelming, it was still significant.
This is unlikely to be the case in a few months’ time, with Ferrari and Mercedes entering the winter break in a very strong position.
Because of this, next year will be an even bigger test of Lando Norris and his abilities.
