Lando Norris’ Las Vegas post-race mindset just proved why he deserves to be 2025 F1 champion

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Lando Norris just spent a whole weekend in Nevada and left with nothing to show for his efforts after being disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

His hopes of securing a maiden drivers’ championship just took a blow, and he now leads Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, not his teammate, by just 24 points.

The Dutchman is level with Oscar Piastri, setting up a tantalising finish to the season. The upcoming Qatar Grand Prix will be a thriller.

Norris loses the most from the situation, but he still has a lot of momentum. If all goes well in Qatar, he stands a chance of claiming the title for McLaren in advance of the finale.

Norris and Piastri’s disqualification is the second of its kind this season, after Ferrari saw both of their cars relegated at the Chinese Grand Prix.

For all the effort of the weekend, including Norris’ battle with a ‘difficult’ Verstappen, it feels harsh that they must leave with no points, but it’s just another dynamic in an already incredible season.

READ MORE: Jenson Button says Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are now in a ‘horrible’ period of F1 title fight

Lando Norris proved he deserves to be 2025 F1 champion with ’embarrassing’ admission

Even Helmut Marko was ‘surprised’ by Norris and the level of pace that McLaren demonstrated in Vegas, despite it being one of their weaker circuits.

By Sunday, that showed once more, with Verstappen cruising to victory by over 20 seconds, but Norris’ response to finishing second, before being disqualified, shows why he deserves to be champion.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, he admitted that his start blunder, where he aggressively tried to cut off his championship rival and ran deep, was ’embarrassing’ for him.

“Pretty embarrassing. I’m here to win races. Second is still a great result. I feel spoilt because of how good we’ve been the last few weekends.

“I messed up Turn One badly and it cost me a chance to lead the race. It didn’t cost me the win today. The thing that cost us the win today was just a lack of performance, not being quick enough and a lot of issues with the car.

“I need to learn from Turn One and try to do a better job than I’ve been doing recently. We’ve not been performing well enough.”

READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya says there are some within McLaren who would ‘prefer’ Oscar Piastri to win F1 title

How will McLaren handle the championship battle following Las Vegas disqualification?

It’ll be fascinating to see how McLaren now approaches the title fight, with Verstappen edging closer to them.

Do they pour all their efforts into Norris, or do they keep things even and risk leaving the door open for Red Bull to walk through?

The next race in Qatar suits their car, and they have performed well there in recent seasons, but Verstappen’s pace since the summer break suggests he will still be a nuisance.

Gerhard Berger thinks McLaren’s drivers are treated equally, and since it has been their stance all year, it would be fair to expect the same in the coming weeks.

But Verstappen is closer than ever, and it’s a complication that they haven’t faced yet in 2025. A retirement in Qatar could see him take the lead of the title race before Abu Dhabi.