Karun Chandhok highlights ‘psychologically important’ moment for Lando Norris in 2025 title battle with Oscar Piastri

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Lando Norris has closed the gap to Oscar Piastri to nine points at the halfway point of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The Briton has won three of the last four races off the back of their collision at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix, when Norris was forced to finish outside of the points.

Despite being over 25 points down to Piastri in the championship, Norris quickly put their crash to one side at the following round in Austria and took both pole and won the race.

It was a critical moment for Norris to prevent any confidence crisis, and one that Chandhok thinks was the most important when reflecting on the season so far on his Instagram channel.

Karun Chandhok thinks Lando Norris’s win in Austria was ‘psychologically important’ in 2025 title battle

Chandhok highlighted the race in Austria as one of the pivotal points of the season, with McLaren also now finishing one-two in the last four races between Piastri and Norris.

“There was a phase of the championship where it looked like the momentum was with Oscar. Lando was making some mistakes in qualifying, and we saw them collide when he ran into the back of Oscar in Canada,” said Chandhok.

“We thought ‘It’s going to swing one way’ but he’s bounced back with a fantastic pole position in Austria, and I think it was psychologically important for Lando to bounce back.

“Taking the win at home at the British GP was a boost. I know Oscar got the penalty, but most importantly, that win before the summer break, where he managed the tyres perfectly and soaked up the pressure from Oscar, that has set up a fantastic second half of the season between the two of them.”

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Where Lando Norris has gained points on Oscar Piastri in 2025 title battle

Norris has gained significant ground on Piastri in the last four races, having lost a fair amount of points at pivotal points of the year including Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Looking at where the McLaren drivers could’ve finished either one-two, Piastri’s third place in Imola also stands out, having started from pole.

Alex Jacques thinks Norris’s ‘undervalued’ ability to stay in a title battle from his days racing in Formula 2 will give him an advantage in the second half of the season.

Last year, Norris made too many unforced errors in a title battle with Max Verstappen and lost, but he will be keen to ensure he learns from those when faced against his teammate.