Lando Norris rubbishes the ‘certainly not true’ thing he’s heard about his F1 title comeback

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McLaren star Lando Norris leads the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship for the first time since April, having outscored teammate Oscar Piastri in each of the past five rounds.

The Briton has bounced back brilliantly from falling to his worst deficit this year following an oil line failure at Zandvoort this August. Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix to lead Norris, who was in P2 before retiring, by 34 points atop the F1 drivers’ championship after 15/24 rounds.

Norris ate into Piastri’s advantage over the rounds in Italy, Azerbaijan, Singapore, the United States and Mexico to now lead his papaya pal by just a single point. The margin between the McLaren stars may be different were it not for Piastri crashing into Norris in the COTA Sprint.

But all is still to play for in the title fight entering the final four rounds of the 2025 F1 season. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix in round 21 and the Qatar Grand Prix in round 23 will also host the final F1 Sprint events of the season, leaving a potential maximum of 116 points on the table.

Lando Norris rubbishes suggestions that he has nothing to lose in the 2025 F1 drivers’ title fight

Norris’ dominant Mexico City Grand Prix victory, having beaten Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 30.324s while Piastri finished 42.065s adrift in P5, underlined the 25-year-old’s title bid. But his prior results also drew claims that he is racing with the attitude of having nothing to lose.

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

Former Toyota star Timo Glock claimed Norris’ Singapore Grand Prix fight with Piastri proved he has “nothing to lose” in the title fight. But, speaking prior to the Sao Paulo GP, Norris has rubbished those suggestions, as his comeback in the title race is due to all of his hard work.

Norris said, via quotes by BBC Sport: “Maybe in qualifying you think, ‘Well, may as well just go for it’. But it’s not like every approach, every lap I do is, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose here, let’s try a bit more’. That’s certainly not true. I definitely wouldn’t put it down to that.

“I would put it more down to just having worked hard and having a very good team around me. I’d put 99% of it down to that, 1% a mix of various different things, but most results coming from work done, rather than mentality or things.”

Lando Norris’ fights with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc show he will not risk it all

Norris frustrated Piastri by causing a collision in the Singapore GP when the McLaren racers banged wheels into Turn 3 at the start. They both left it late to brake, but Norris had to turn out slightly after touching the rear of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull before tapping Piastri’s car.

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

It was arguably the most aggressive that Norris has been when racing Piastri on track during the 2025 F1 season so far. It was also fair to suggest that Norris had changed his approach to the title fight, having arrived at Marina Bay 25 points behind Piastri in the championship.

But Norris did not make any do-or-die moves on Verstappen during the Singapore GP as the pair fought over P2 through the rest of the race. Also, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff felt Norris second-guessed himself in the United States Grand Prix while he fought with Leclerc for P2.

Norris was often reluctant to attempt any overtakes on Leclerc that would have supported a nothing-to-lose style, as he bided his time until he was comfortable about any move coming off. Now, Norris’ approach has handed him the lead in the standings with four rounds to go.