The Briton emerged as a title contender for the first time in his career last year. But the start to the season that Red Bull and Verstappen enjoyed meant Norris could not catch the Dutch star in time.
Verstappen won a fourth Formula 1 drivers’ title in a row by 63 points to Norris.
Verstappen built an ultimately decisive advantage in the Formula 1 drivers’ championship by winning seven of the first 10 Grand Prix.
The 27-year-old’s consistency after McLaren pipped Red Bull to often have the fastest car even meant he benefitted from Norris dropping points.
But despite Norris and McLaren’s regular mistakes costing him in the 2024 title fight, the 25-year-old is, for many, the pre-season favourite to dethrone Verstappen in 2025.
Yet Lammers backs Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri to not just lead McLaren but their drivers’ title pursuit.
Lammers thinks that while pundits like Karun Chandhok believe Norris is the pre-season title favourite, Piastri proved last year that he has the ‘mental resilience’ to endure a season-long duel over the title in 2025.
He is also a proven champion after winning F2 and F3 as a rookie.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko often questioned Norris’ mental strength to beat Verstappen in the 2024 title fight.
So, having proven that he can consistently improve and be their lead racer, Lammers feels McLaren’s £4.5m a year Piastri can be a ‘surprise’ title threat.
“Oscar Piastri,” Lammers told RacingNews365. “He has had an incredible upward trend with winning all the [junior] championships. He is used to the most, he knows himself the most as a champion.
“Then you know that you have the speed, but also the balance and the mental resilience to spread that over an entire season.”
He adds: “Formally, I have to say that if McLaren are the main threat to Red Bull, then it will be Lando Norris who will win. But then I still think that Piastri could be a very big surprise.”
Not many pundits have backed Piastri to go all the way in 2025 with Mike Hezemans ranking Norris as the 2025 F1 title favourite, as well.
Also, after his move from Mercedes, 2025 could be Lewis Hamilton’s best chance to win an F1 title with Ferrari ahead of the new regulations.
Few pundits believing he is the driver to dethrone Verstappen does not stop Piastri stating “I feel ready” to fight for a Formula 1 title, though.
He was also the top-scoring driver from the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix to the Singapore Grand Prix when Piastri registered 183 of his 292.
