Nigel Mansell’s big Lando Norris claim after his first F1 podium is beginning to look like a mistake

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Nigel Mansell made his feelings about Lando Norris very clear from an early stage of the McLaren driver’s F1 career, but his claims are now starting to look like a mistake.

The Briton joined the travelling circus of Formula 1 in 2019 when McLaren graduated Norris from their driver academy. He formed part of an all-new line-up in Woking that season with Carlos Sainz as they moved on from Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne after two years.

Norris made his F1 debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix and would enjoy a steady run of form in his first year on the grid. His debut podium also arrived in the first race of his second F1 season, as Norris took P3 in the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix and Last Lap Lando was born.

Nigel Mansell claimed Lando Norris had the ‘world at his feet’ after his first F1 podium at the 2020 Austrian GP

A stunning last lap from Norris at the Red Bull Ring in 2020 saw the Briton take advantage of Mercedes hero Lewis Hamilton receiving a five-second time penalty for a collision with Alex Albon. Norris set the fastest lap of the race on the last lap to be 4.802s from Hamilton in P2.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

What the Bristol-born racer showed in Spielberg seriously impressed Mansell, who claimed ‘I certainly hope’ Norris could be the modern-day version of the 1992 F1 champion. He has since gone on to reach 30 podiums and bag five wins in 133 Grands Prix – all with McLaren.

Mansell told the Gary Newbon Sports Show in August 2020: “I certainly hope so. I think he’s a lovely young man. He’s the right age, he’s with the right team, he’s had opportunities [and has] got the right power package with Mercedes. So, yeah, the world’s at his feet.”

Lando Norris is making Nigel Mansell’s prediction look like a mistake by blowing his 2025 title bid

But Norris is now beginning to make Mansell’s prediction that the Briton could be a modern-day version of the 1992 champion after sealing his first podium in F1 at the 22nd attempt at the 2020 Austrian GP look like a mistake with the McLaren driver blowing a second title bid.

Norris emerged as a contender to win the Formula 1 drivers’ championship for the first time in 2024 when McLaren surpassed Red Bull as the team to beat. But Max Verstappen opened an early advantage and his consistency during the year saw the Dutchman win a fourth title.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

McLaren and Norris made strategic errors and mistakes on the track throughout 2024 as the Woking outfit adjusted to being title contenders having not won a drivers’ crown since 2008. Yet the big issue was him trailing by 40 points after four rounds, 52 after five and 69 after 10.

Still, McLaren expected Norris to lead them into 2025 after learning from his battles against Verstappen. He paid the price for trying an overtake at Turn 3 when they crashed in Austria, and their United States Grand Prix battle which drew a penalty for overtaking off the circuit.

Lando Norris is cracking under the pressure of an F1 title fight with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri

But McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri has now dethroned Norris to lead the F1 2025 drivers’ championship for the first time in his career. The Australian has been the in-form star since Norris sealed the championship lead for the first time by winning the Australian Grand Prix.

Piastri fell 23 points behind Norris immediately into the 2025 season after spinning while in second place in the late rain in Melbourne before recovering to P9. Yet he has since earned control at McLaren for Piastri to lead Norris by 10 points after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

While the Briton appears to be cracking under the pressure after Norris crashed in qualifying in Saudi Arabia before recovering to seal a P4 finish, the Australian is shining. Piastri won the Chinese GP from his first F1 pole position, won the Bahrain GP from pole and won in Jeddah.

Piastri was in a class of his own to win by 15.499 seconds in Sakhir, where McLaren also saw Norris call himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 for the Bahrain GP. He is struggling to extract the speed of their MCL39 like the Melbourne native has managed since Piastri’s home woes.

It was precisely even due to the pressure from Piastri in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP that saw Norris crash in Q3 without setting a lap time. The Briton tried to carry more speed through Turn 4 as Piastri had been able to, yet ran too deep and lost his car on the exit kerb.