Lando Norris
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For the majority of the recently concluded Formula 1 campaign, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were the two championship protagonists who looked to secure their maiden world title.
In the end, it was Lando Norris who reigned supreme in Abu Dhabi, with his third-placed finish at Yas Marina being enough to etch his name on the drivers’ championship.
Oscar Piastri had to settle for third place in the F1 standings at the final chequered flag of the year.
The Australian led the championship for 15 out of the 24 race weekends, but a streak of ‘unlucky’ mistakes in the latter stages of the campaign unravelled Piastri’s title charge.
However, there were a lot of positives to take away from Piastri’s season. He recorded seven wins, six poles and a total of 16 podiums in just his third year of racing in F1 and surprised everybody, including his McLaren counterpart.
- READ MORE: Drive to Survive reveals Lando Norris’ true feelings on Carlos Sainz’s decision to join Williams
What was your favourite moment from Lando Norris’ 2025 F1 title-winning season?
Carlos Sainz thinks Lando Norris was surprised by how competitive Oscar Piastri was in 2025
During Williams’ last episode of Team Torque for 2025, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz discussed a range of topics that cropped up during the latter’s first season at the Grove-based racing outfit.
Of course, the outcome of the drivers’ championship was one of said topics, and Sainz expressed his delight for his former teammate’s maiden title feat, saying, “I’m honestly happy for him. I think he must have had a tough year up here.
His year started in a difficult way, I think it’s one of the first times ever that he was caught a bit by surprise with how competitive Oscar was being, by having a championship-winning car and having to use it to get your chance.
“I remember, I think it was after Canada, when he had that touch with Oscar, you know, and it was his fault, I remember seeing him and feeling like he’s not happy or he must be not in a great place.
“It just shows this is not how it starts, it’s how it ends. And I think he overcame those difficulties quite nicely.
“He had a really solid second half of the season to finish the job because in the end, the car was there to finish the job and he just maximised it.”
Sainz and Norris share a deep friendship that stemmed from their time as teammates together, and the Spaniard previously revealed how Norris had confided his biggest problem at McLaren to him during his intense title fight.
Where does Norris rank?
Alex Albon also expressed how impressed he was with Lando Norris during the 2025 F1 season
Albon also holds some close ties to Norris through their time together travelling up the junior ladder in single-seaters.
Both drivers made their F1 debuts in 2019, and the Thai driver detailed how impressed he was with Norris’ title-winning season this year.
He said, “I think it was a really impressive year for him, just in terms of, I think that people don’t understand—mentally, he’s also strong, to kind of how he came back into the mid part of the season.
“And then there were a lot of things that didn’t go their way. Vegas, Zandvoort. But still, he had a really strong second half of the season. I think he must have proved to a lot of people that.”
Sainz then added, “More than strong, he just kept his standards for everyone. He’s a great Formula 1 driver. Probably better than what people give him credit for.
“If you look at his last three years, since McLaren has become a bit more competitive or clearly more competitive, he’s been really, really quick, both in quality and in the race.
“It was just that start of the year, I think, that put a bit of doubt into maybe this year’s car suited him a bit worse or whatever. But it looked tricky from the outside to start, but then they overcame all those difficulties.”
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