F1 has entered the final year of the ground-effect ruleset. Typically, when regulations change, one team breaks free of the pack (Red Bull in this instance) before their rivals slowly close up (McLaren, Ferrari and perhaps Mercedes).
That convergence has been evident since last spring, when McLaren’s Miami upgrade paved the way for Lando Norris to win his first Grand Prix.
From that point onwards, F1’s leading quartet each scored between four and six victories.
2025 should theoretically be even closer as teams reach the ceiling of their concepts.
In these circumstances, areas like race strategy, pit stops and starts will take on the utmost importance.
Last year, Norris lost more positions on the opening lap (28) than any other F1 driver. That partly reflects his higher starting spots – nobody had more poles – but it was a clear weakness nonetheless.
Norris surrendered the lead at the start of the Chinese GP Sprint, the Spanish GP, the Hungarian GP, the Italian GP, the Dutch GP, the US GP and the Sao Paulo GP. Only at Zandvoort was he able to recover and win, so he lost a whole heap of points.
Lewis Hamilton taunted Norris over his consistently poor starts on the F1 fan zone stage ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix in December. He was speaking to teammate George Russell, who was set to line up next to him on the front row in the Sprint.
“You should win today, the Sprint,” he said. “I don’t think Lando’s ever held off the line, so you should be good.”
At that point, Hamilton’s jibes were justified. But a look at the stats shows a clear improvement from Norris late in the season.
He proved Hamilton wrong by holding position in the Qatar Sprint, as well as the Las Vegas GP and the finale in Abu Dhabi, where he took victory. He also snatched second from Russell on Sunday at Losail.
It seems Norris made a hidden breakthrough with his getaways, leading to his best lap-one run of the season. If he can carry this into next year, it will cement his status as the favourite.
McLaren won the constructors’ championship, finishing 14 points ahead of Ferrari.
Norris has the beating of Oscar Piastri for now – 21-3 in qualifying and 17-7 in the races last year – so it’s fair to say he enters the year with the best prospects.
Nico Rosberg has named Norris the favourite after watching him drive ‘brilliantly’ last year.
Three of his four wins were dominant, and his failures should only make him stronger as he learns what it takes to win a title.
Rosberg’s Sky Sports F1 colleague Karun Chandhok also said Norris has a ‘big opportunity’. It’s the first time he’s been in this position, though, and that will come with an unfamiliar pressure.
