Charles Leclerc warns Oscar Piastri why he can’t ‘rule out’ Lando Norris winning the 2025 F1 title

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Charles Leclerc feels Oscar Piastri has ‘the edge’ in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship before the Hungarian Grand Prix, yet he cannot ‘rule out’ Lando Norris taking the title.

The travelling circus has pitched its tents at the Hungaroring this weekend for the last round of the 2025 F1 season prior to the summer break. Piastri also arrived in Budapest with a 16-point lead over Norris atop the standings after winning the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.

Piastri beat Norris to win the Belgian GP last Sunday, after also finishing ahead of his papaya pal in second and third place during the F1 Sprint at Spa, to rebuild his advantage. Just eight points had separated the McLaren teammates before round 13 of 24 in the Ardennes forest.

His victory at Spa has even left Piastri increasingly convinced that he now has a straight fight with Norris to win the F1 drivers’ championship this term. Four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen is now 81 points behind in third place heading into the Hungarian GP on Sunday.

Charles Leclerc feels Lando Norris can win the 2025 F1 title if he ‘puts things together’

And with 11 rounds remaining, Ferrari rival Leclerc feels he cannot ‘rule out’ Norris stopping Piastri from winning the title this term. The Monegasque has no preference for which driver takes the title, but he thinks Norris can secure the championship if he ‘puts things together’.

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

Both McLaren drivers are vying for their debut titles this year, yet Norris has made a host of errors that have helped Piastri head the F1 championship standings since April. The Briton’s mistakes even allowed the Australian to overturn a 23-point deficit following the first round.

“The only thing I’d like is for Ferrari to win it with me in the winning car,” Leclerc has told Sky Italia. “I have no preference for McLaren.

“At the moment, Piastri seems to have the edge. But I wouldn’t rule out Norris because he’s incredibly talented and when he puts things together, he’s really strong. But Oscar has been impressive so far.”

Lando Norris is paying the price in the drivers’ championship for his frequent mistakes

Norris won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix from pole position to enjoy a 23-point lead over Piastri, after his McLaren teammate span out of second place in the rain before he recovered to P9. But it only took Piastri four Grands Prix plus one Sprint to lead by 10 points.

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

Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix from his first F1 pole in April, won the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole and won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from P2 to lead the standings. He has even won the Miami Grand Prix, Spanish Grand Prix and Belgian GP during the eight rounds since.

On the other side of the garage at McLaren, meanwhile, Norris called himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 in Bahrain before finishing P3. The 25-year-old also called himself an ‘idiot’ for crashing in Q3 in Saudi Arabia after losing control trying to match Piastri’s speed into Turn 4.

Further mistakes have followed, too, with Norris crashing into Piastri in the Canadian Grand Prix before admitting the Briton had made ‘a fool of myself’. Despite then winning in Austria and Britain, Norris made an array of mistakes in the Belgian GP while trying to catch Piastri.