Anthony Davidson says Lando Norris has lost crucial ‘part of his armoury’ in Oscar Piastri battle

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Lando Norris will be looking to bounce back at the Austrian Grand Prix after a critical mistake in Canada proved costly to his title chances.

The Brit started the 2025 season in fine style with pole position and the win at the season opener in Melbourne. But Norris would not achieve either a pole or a win again until Monaco as his teammate stepped up a level.

Oscar Piastri has five wins and three poles to his name as he has significantly improved his one-lap pace in qualifying and looks stronger in races. While Norris has arguably been quicker on Sundays, mistakes have hampered his season.

The 25-year-old has struggled to maximise his MCL39 in Q3, often missing out on the front row after topping the previous sessions. Norris has been advised to ‘shorten his corners’ like Max Verstappen, which will aid his speed on the exits against Piastri.

McLaren had a damaging weekend at the Canadian GP as Norris collided with Piastri on lap 67, forcing him to retire. The Aussie stayed in the race to finish P4 and has extended his championship lead to 22 points.

Anthony Davidson says Lando Norris has lost ‘part of his armoury’ with average speed against Oscar Piastri

While that margin is not a comfortable one, given that there are still 14 races to go, there are question marks surrounding Norris and his title hopes against his teammate.

Norris has a question of whether he will be world champion hanging over him at the Austrian GP. Many people now see Piastri as the favourite for the title as he is able to maximise every weekend and get the best out of his car.

McLaren are now discussing how to manage Norris ‘internally’ after his crash in Canada. A lot has been made of the Brit’s mentality during race weekends, after Nico Rosberg pointed out Norris’ engineer was like a ‘psychologist’ over the radio.

The McLaren star will still be hopeful that he can turn things around. But speaking via Sky Sports, pundit and former driver Anthony Davidson says Norris has lost his average speed advantage over Piastri in 2025.

“When you’re on the back foot, you’re going to take more risks. Oscar has the race pace now this year that he didn’t have last year, and Lando knows that,” he said.

He’s also on the back foot when it comes to qualifying, where he had the speed over Piastri last year on average. He doesn’t have that as part of his armoury, so it does make you take more chances.”

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Lando Norris has a lot of work to do to turn things around at the Austrian Grand Prix

The Red Bull Ring’s fast nature will suit McLaren this weekend as they look to extend their lead over the field. Norris will want to avoid a repeat of last year’s race, however, after he was forced to retire in the closing laps due to a collision with Verstappen at turn two.

The Brit cannot afford to slip up in qualifying or the race this weekend. Another mistake would certainly make it an uphill struggle for him to win the world championship.

McLaren have lost a tenth in performance due to the flexi-wing technical directive brought in by the FIA at the Spanish GP. Norris will be working hard to gain that back in Austria, but that may prove difficult.

F2 driver Alex Dunne will replace Norris in FP1 as the Irishman will take part in his first F1 weekend. This could hamper the Brit’s preparations, which have been seen with other drivers already this season, such as Jack Doohan in Japan, where he crashed in FP2.