Lando Norris won’t like what rival teams have ‘confirmed’ about McLaren’s 2025 car after latest F1 rule change

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Lando Norris has a very tough fight ahead of him if he wants to earn his maiden Formula 1 title in 2025.

After crashing out of the Canadian Grand Prix, he now trails teammate Oscar Piastri by 22 points in the drivers’ championship.

McLaren still appear to have the fastest car at most tracks, but their rivals have been bringing upgrades and are trying to catch them.

Norris will want all hands on deck, but it’s important to remember that the 2026 F1 regulations are around the corner, and they need to focus on those soon.

For the time being, Norris has been told to copy Max Verstappen and shorten his corners to maximise his exit speed and pace on track.

Legends Mika Hakkinen and Mario Andretti think McLaren are ‘afraid’ to tell Norris one thing and impose team orders, especially after he crashed into Piastri in Montreal.

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will want to avoid repeat of 2016 Mercedes fate at the Austrian Grand Prix

Lando Norris won’t like to hear what rival F1 teams have ‘confirmed’ about McLaren’s 2025 car

The upcoming Austrian Grand Prix is a track that Norris is in the hunt for redemption at in more than one way.

Last year, a collision with Max Verstappen denied him an important victory and resulted in a late retirement, while at the last race, he crashed into his teammate.

Now, it is more vital than ever for the Briton to fight back, and he might not like what rival teams have just ‘confirmed’ about McLaren’s car.

According to Autoracer.it, the Woking-based outfit lost one tenth from the flexi-wing technical directive introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix.

With Alex Dunne replacing Norris at Austria for FP1, it means he will have to work even harder than ever to rediscover that lost tenth this weekend.

READ MORE: McLaren have now identified ‘world-class’ F1 driver as their ‘back-up option’ if Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri leave

Why Lando Norris has nothing to worry about in the 2025 F1 title fight

A few races ago, when Piastri had the measure of Norris, beating him race after race and earning all the victories, there was cause for concern.

Fast-forward to now and Norris has started to build some positive momentum recently, and beating Piastri in Canada would have been important for the championship.

Instead, he’s now a full race win behind in terms of points, but he has been able to match his teammate and even beat him recently, which is a good sign.

Norris must learn from Piastri’s ‘killer instinct’ and bounce back as soon as he can. A win at Spielberg would go a long way towards achieving that.