Norris feels "more of a threat" to Piastri in F1 2025 title fight

Lando Norris believes he is now “more of a threat” to Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri but is still not happy with his current performance level as both fight for a maiden world title.

The Briton is second in the 2025 F1 standings and eight points behind his McLaren team-mate ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, which is round 13 of the current campaign.

Norris arrives at Spa with the momentum though having won the last two grands prix - Austria and then Britain - cutting a deficit that stood at 22 points to Piastri before those victories.

It has been the perfect way for Norris to bounce back from his Canada disappointment three rounds ago, as he retired after crashing into Piastri late on, so the Briton believes he’s finally putting up more of a fight to his team-mate.

“I feel like I climbed a little bit back to where I was,” said Norris. “The most positive thing from those two weekends was just that the pace was better from the off and I was more comfortable with the car and in understanding how to get the most pace from it.

“At times that brings more of a smile to my face than just winning the race itself because it's progress, it's seeing progress and that's always a very good thing. It's a very rewarding thing.

Lando Norris, McLaren

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“But I still know that there's still more I need to get. There's still more things. I feel better than what I did. So do I feel more confident that I can have more performances like that? Yes.

“Do I feel as good as I still felt last season and that I'm performing at the same level consistently enough? I would still say no.

“I have more understanding of everything now. But we're talking minute things, like incredibly small gains here and there. I feel more of a threat now. But am I happy enough still with where I'm at, where the car is, and my harmony with the car? It's still not to the level that I want.”

Norris finished second to Max Verstappen in the 2024 championship and ended the year as McLaren’s leading driver, as Piastri finished 82 points behind his team-mate in fourth in the standings.

But significant gains from Piastri over the winter, like in qualifying trim, added with McLaren designing a car that Norris said in March doesn’t suit him, led to the Australian overtaking his older team-mate.

So when asked at Spa why Norris thinks he has been able to get back on level terms with Piastri, he put it down to becoming more versatile.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

“My driving, how I drive the car, my ability to adapt to more driving styles,” added the eight-time grand prix winner.

“That's really the main thing, how I drive the car. It's also my job at the end of the day to drive whatever car I get given as quickly as possible.

“I mix some more things away from the track with my team. I have a very good group of people around me, so working on things on the track and off the track, how I can approach the weekends in a better way.

“Most of it is just how I can work on being a better driver in the situation of struggling with things that I don't like or I'm not used to or changes on the car for this year.”