Lando Norris is still firmly in the hunt for the Formula 1 world championship, regardless of any mistakes made or the perception around him so far this season.
The 25-year-old McLaren driver remains second in the standings with 201 points, 15 behind teammate Oscar Piastri after picking up the victory in the Austrian Grand Prix.
The bounce-back result came after a desperate move by Norris in the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks earlier, when he crashed out after colliding with the rear of Piastri's car.
After that result, many wondered if the British driver could realistically maintain a challenge for the title, with his Australian counterpart demonstrating an "ice cold" demeanor week in, week out, avoiding errors that put him in potential jeopardy.
Despite this, Norris should not be discounted as a genuine candidate for the title this year until it is mathematically decided.
Why Lando Norris can't be counted out
A lot of attention over the past year has been placed on Norris and his ability to handle pressure and composure while in a title battle.
He frequently came up against now-four-time world champion Max Verstappen in 2024, with the Red Bull man regularly showing his cutthroat approach, sometimes to his own detriment.
Norris, meanwhile, seemed to lack that edge, and throughout the early stages of this season, he seemed quite despondent around some of his own performances, despite his position in the standings.
Minor errors plagued him in qualifying sessions, and he seemed to react quite negatively afterwards, putting pressure on his own shoulders and blaming himself seemingly for everything that wasn't going right.
With Piastri picking up more wins and showing a level of calmness the other side of the garage had been lacking, it became an easy narrative that Norris wouldn't be able to maintain his performance and eventually Piastri would run away with things.
That hasn't been the case, however, and even with his DNF in Canada, he remains firmly in the hunt.
The gap would be even more narrow between Piastri and Norris had Norris seen out the Canadian Grand Prix and finished only a couple of points behind his teammate.
His calm, confident approach to the Austrian Grand Prix, however, is what he needs to focus on now to eliminate any doubt about his talents and ability.
He showed determination, led every session he drove in throughout the entire weekend, and claimed one of the best wins of his career at the Red Bull Ring.
He even held off his teammate for 20 laps, despite a DRS disadvantage, to demonstrate that he has the ability to put everything together at the right moments and deliver on the promise and potential seen throughout his career so far.
Couple this one performance with the rest of the season, where he has finished in the points in every race aside from the Canadian Grand Prix, and he has actually been fairly consistent all year, standing on the podium nine times in 11 races (with three wins).
He may have some issues with qualifying when things aren't going perfectly, but his race craft has been on full display, and he has consistently put the MCL39 in the position it should be this year.
Norris will remain in the title hunt this season; that's a given. Whether or not he can put everything together consistently moving forward will determine just how close he gets to finally lifting that coveted trophy and finally putting to bed the argument that he doesn't have "the stuff" that champions of previous years have had. Don't count him out; at least not yet.