Timo Glock tells Lando Norris the ‘crucial question’ he must answer after winning the 2025 F1 title

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Lando Norris is the 11th British driver to win the F1 title, but the McLaren ace beating Max Verstappen to lift the crown by just two points has not answered every question.

The 26-year-old sealed his maiden title in the 2025 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, with P3 enough to take the F1 drivers’ championship despite Verstappen winning at Yas Marina. Norris finished the season with 423 points, compared to his Red Bull rival’s 421.

Norris also enjoyed by far the most rewarding season of his eight-year F1 career in 2025. He secured seven of his 11 career Grand Prix wins, seven of his 16 career pole positions and 18 of his 44 career podiums. Only in the 2024 season has Norris secured more poles with eight.

Lando Norris faces the ‘crucial question’ of how he will improve as an F1 champion

But while Norris won the 2025 F1 title to become the 11th British champion so far and to give McLaren their first title since Lewis Hamilton’s in 2008, Timo Glock believes the Bristol-born pilot still faces the “crucial” question of how, and can, he improve to now find a higher level.

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

“The crucial question will be whether Norris grows from this season,” Glock suggested, via Motorsport-Total. “Where did he make things difficult for himself? Where can he improve, both in terms of his driving and his mental game? We’ll see.”

Glock also believes McLaren face a “big question mark” given next year will mark the start of the 2026 F1 regulations era. While McLaren will continue to be a Mercedes engine customer until 2030, the Woking squad have to adapt to F1’s new aerodynamic, chassis and tyre rules.

“Another big question mark is 2026. What will happen with the new rules? Will McLaren even have a car capable of competing for the world championship title then? The cards will be reshuffled.”

Lando Norris showed he can improve from his ‘clueless’ qualifying performances in 2025

Norris changed his approach during the 2025 F1 season, having started this term as the title favourite only to see his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, take control of the championship at an early stage. Piastri ousted Norris atop the standings in April and he led it until October.

McLaren frequently saw Norris beat himself up over the early rounds of the 2025 season, as well. Norris called himself “clueless” after qualifying P6 in Bahrain, while Piastri took pole in round four, which he only recovered from to get P3 while his teammate won 16.273s ahead.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2026 F1 engine and aero regulations

Additionally, Norris called himself an “idiot” when he crashed on his first Q3 run at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in round five. The Briton felt he had to react to the speed that Piastri had carried through Turn 4 during Q1 and Q2, but he ran a bit deep and lost control on the kerb.

Norris made further mistakes during qualifying for the F1 Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix in round two after “trying to push too much”. He even stated at Imola during round seven that his efforts once he reached Q3 were too regularly “just not good enough” at the early races.

But Norris managed to put those problems behind him to secure pole position in Monaco in round eight. Yet his biggest improvement came towards the end, as Norris became the only driver to score pole at three successive rounds during 2025 in Mexico, Brazil and Las Vegas.

Now, Norris will hope to overcome Glock’s concerns about where he can improve and chase a second drivers’ title in 2026 if McLaren can deliver under the new regulations. Mercedes are widely expected to have the best 2026 F1 rules engine, so the onus will be on McLaren.