Nigel Mansell sends Lando Norris message and tells him what he’s ‘got to do’ to beat Oscar Piastri this season

Follow us on Google Discover

McLaren driver Lando Norris may never have a better opportunity to win a Formula 1 world championship than this season.

At the halfway stage of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Lando Norris is second in the drivers’ championship.

He currently sits eight points behind McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, but has discovered his best form of the season.

For the first time in Norris’ F1 career, he’s won back-to-back races in the same season, capitalising on Piastri’s penalty at the British Grand Prix.

Norris was third when the safety car lights went off at Silverstone, but an overly aggressive use of the brakes by Piastri and an uncharacteristic mistake from Max Verstappen ultimately earned the 25-year-old his eighth career win.

Helmut Marko praised Norris after the race, showing how far he’s come, considering the Red Bull chief has previously been very critical of the British driver.

He has far more support from F1 legend Nigel Mansell, who sent Norris a message and has told him what he now needs to do to join him as a Formula 1 world champion.

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

Nigel Mansell loves what McLaren driver Lando Norris is doing this season

Mansell had an incredible Formula 1 career, but might not look back on his time at McLaren too fondly.

He had a long spell at Lotus, while two successful periods with Williams, where he won his world championship in 1992, were bisected by a two-season stint with Ferrari.

However, Mansell’s final stint in F1 was with McLaren in 1995. After two races, he retired from the sport following a P10 finish and a retirement.

Speaking at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Mansell admitted that he’s hoping Lewis Hamilton can start to take steps forward at Ferrari, before turning his attention to McLaren.

Mansell was asked what he would tell Norris if he were at Goodwood about how to win the championship and said: “Well, he’s with the best team, he’s got the best car, he’s got a strong teammate, it’s because of both of them.

“But Lando, he’s on a high, he’s just won the last two races and it’s there for the grabs, isn’t it?

“We’ve got to have another British world champion, that’s what we’ve got to do.

“So, all the very, very best to Lando, but don’t take it away from Oscar, he’s going to push him all the way.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Lando Norris found racing Oscar Piastri ‘stressful’ at the British Grand Prix

Silverstone might have been the perfect example to Norris that he doesn’t have to be perfect to get results.

Too often this season, Norris has had a very small advantage over Piastri, but has pushed too hard and overdone it, providing an opening for his teammate to outscore him.

In Saudi Arabia and Canada, he made crucial mistakes in qualifying that allowed Piastri to get the upper hand during the race.

Norris called racing Piastri at the British Grand Prix ‘stressful’, but instead of putting pressure on himself, he turned the tables on the Australian.

Likewise, in Austria, when they went toe-to-toe on track, Norris came out on top, and it was Piastri who made a desperate lunge that forced McLaren into enacting team orders.

McLaren will allow both drivers to race, as long as it doesn’t harm their chances of winning the constructors’ championship.

Mathematically, they’re not far away from securing back-to-back titles, and then there will be nothing stopping Norris and Piastri battling it out until the finale in Abu Dhabi.