The glaring irony that lies beneath Lando Norris' 2025 F1 struggles

If pressure is a privilege, then Lando Norris certainly finds himself with a lot of it, for better or worse.

For as much talk as there has been about Norris' struggles through four Formula 1 races in 2025, you'd think he is outside the top two or three in the world championship standings, when in reality, he leads the standings by three points, and he has led all year. In a way, it shows just how talented a driver Norris is.

However, it's the mistakes he's made, particularly in Bahrain last week, that have let to him only having a three-point lead over his teammate Oscar Piastri, and the many times he's formed "excuses" to deny that McLaren is the fastest team – contrary to even Piastri's opinion – are what has led to all the criticism.

Whether it be errors on his final Q3 laps, getting a penalty for starting out of position in Bahrain, being pushed around by Max Verstappen in wheel-to-wheel combat last season, or simply dropping the ball when pressure is high, many are suggesting he isn't a championship-caliber driver, or even already writing him off as McLaren's No. 1 driver.

Norris' shortcomings have also ironically brought some of his past comments back to light.

His first four-and-a-half seasons in Formula 1 were spent anywhere from the midfield, being the best of the rest, or at the back of the grid; such was the up-and-down nature of McLaren's overall performance.

While that limited Norris to just one podium finish by the end of his second season, everyone could see his talent, including himself. It had to have been very frustrating to have not had a front-running chance.

But with Lewis Hamilton dominating that season en route to his seventh title, Norris made a rather damning comment about the significance of Hamilton's record-tying achievement.

"I'm just happy for him, nothing more. It doesn't mean anything to me, really. He's in a car which should win every race. He has to beat one or two other drivers, that's it."

Lando Norris

These comments drew a ton of criticism and backlash, and led Norris to quickly release an apology.

The fact that Norris has objectively had the fastest car at most races since the fifth race of 2024 in Miami doesn't put a great look on his name when he's won just five races in that time. Unfortunately, these exact comments are brought up on a near weekly basis now.

Two years on from that quote, however, Norris had another interesting response when asked about Daniel Ricciardo's struggles with the tricky McLaren car that ultimately resulted in him being dismissed in 2022.

"I hate to say it, but I would say no (to having sympathy). People will probably hate me for saying it but it's difficult because I never know if I might encounter that in the future with this car or with a different team or whatever, so I never want to contradict myself going into the future."

Lando Norris

Ironically, that's exactly what appears to be happening just three short years later.

While Piastri, coupled with his ice-cold, unfazed mentality, appears to be super smooth and at ease with the car, Norris has struggled to tame the fast, yet tricky, MCL39. He has undoubtedly still remained competitive, highlighted by his dominant win in Australia, but he has also certainly not performed how he'd like to.

The thing is, while all these comments do seem genuine, they're not a reflection of who he is as a driver or a person.

We've seen how kind and funny Norris can be, all while still being laser-focused, super quick, and holding himself more accountable than anyone. The drivers also seem to like and respect him immensely, no less Hamilton and Verstappen.

For someone who has admitted several times to struggling with forms of anxiety several times in his career, it's much more difficult to deal with the peaks and valleys of a season, which could have led to many of these knee-jerk types of comments.

These could all just be forms of coping mechanisms to block out the noise, in an effort to stay confident. Drivers are human, after all.

Everyone can see the speed and talent that Norris has. Way more often than not, when he's on his game, he's a top five driver on the grid, and right alongside the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell as the absolute cream of the crop.

Writing him off now would be criminal. Considering the fact that he is leading the championship even with all his challenges and mistakes, he's doing just fine.