Lando Norris did ‘one of the best’ things Anthony Davidson has ‘ever seen’ under F1 title pressure

Follow us on Google Discover

Lando Norris will start a round leading the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship for the first time since April when the on-track action starts in Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Briton usurped his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to top the standings by a point by winning the Mexico City Grand Prix last time out. It is the first time that Norris has topped the table since Piastri won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in round five of 24 this April.

Norris had become the first person to dethrone Red Bull racer Max Verstappen from the top of the F1 drivers’ championship in 1,029 days when he won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March. But Piastri responded and would lead the way from round five until 19.

All is still to play for in the title fight, though, as Norris only heads Piastri by a point ahead of the Sao Paulo GP. Verstappen in third place is also just 36 points adrift of Norris entering the final four rounds of the 2025 F1 season, which also feature Sprint events in Brazil and Qatar.

Lando Norris’ Mexico City Grand Prix pole lap was ‘one of the best’ that Anthony Davidson has ‘ever’ seen

Anthony Davidson has been very impressed by the way Norris handled himself while chasing Piastri down to lead the F1 drivers’ championship. The former Super Aguri star thinks Norris also produced “one of the best” qualifying laps that he has “ever” to get pole in Mexico City.

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

Norris got pole position for the Mexico City GP with a 1:15.586 lap in Q3, which left the field in his wake. Ferrari pilot Charles Leclerc qualified P2 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but he was 0.262s off Norris’ effort. Piastri qualified P8 with a 1:16.174, but started from P7.

“Lando has shown lots of resilience time and time again,” Davidson told Sky Sports. “I’d say we’ve seen moments where he pushes too hard. He’s very self-critical, but I don’t ever think that holds him back as a driver.

“I think he’s incredibly tenacious, resilient, and he’s very raw in how he drives. As a driver, you sometimes push too much. Other times, you’re just in a world of your own, you’re in a class of your own, like we saw with Lando in Mexico [during] qualifying.

“That lap he put in, one of the best I’ve ever seen. Under such pressure this time of the year, he absolutely rags the car, but it was controlled aggression.”

Lando Norris will eye his sixth pole of 2025 in Brazil after showing speed in Sao Paulo in 2024

Norris took the 14th pole position of his F1 career so far at the Mexico City GP, for what was also his fifth pole of the 2025 season. Only Red Bull’s Verstappen with seven has more poles in 2025 than McLaren duo Norris and Piastri, who set his fifth pole so far in the Netherlands.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2025 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil

Additionally, Norris has now converted four of his five poles this season into race wins, after keeping the lead at Turn 1 in Mexico City and going on to win by 30.324s over Leclerc. Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix after taking the lead off polesitter Norris during round 13 in July.

Had Norris not scored pole for the Mexico City GP with a lap that astounded Davidson, then the Bristol-born pilot might not now be leading the drivers’ championship ahead of the Sao Paulo GP. He will now hope to take his sixth pole of 2025 and leave Brazil with a bigger lead.

Norris scored pole for the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix by 0.173s over Mercedes star George Russell. The Britons also fought over the victory before they pitted prior to a red flag, which allowed Verstappen to change his tyres for free and go on to win the Grand Prix in Brazil.

McLaren also saw Piastri deny Norris pole for the 2024 F1 Sprint in Brazil by 0.029s, despite the latter having led the former atop the SQ1 and SQ2 timesheets. But McLaren told Piastri to give Norris the 2024 Brazil Sprint win to help his slim shot at a title fight with Verstappen.