The first world title for Lando Norris
Despite a challenging start to the season, Lando Norris managed to claim his first-ever Formula 1 World Championship. After struggling and falling 34 points behind his teammate Oscar Piastri following the Dutch GP—which was marred by a technical retirement on his McLaren—the young British driver staged a strong comeback. His late-season consistency, combined with minimal mistakes and solid performances, cemented his championship victory, even with Max Verstappen’s presence looming large.
Gunther Steiner speaks out
Even though the Red Bull driver was voted the 2025 Driver of the Year by team principals and fellow drivers, this doesn’t mean that Norris stole anything. This is the opinion of former Haas team principal Gunther Steiner, interviewed recently by the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung: “Norris absolutely deserved the title. I don’t agree with those who claim otherwise. During the season, many had written him off, but he fought bravely until the end, climbed back up the standings, and became world champion. He learned from earlier mistakes and avoided the errors he had made at the start of the year.”
However, Steiner warns that the future McLaren duality with teammate Oscar Piastri could create headaches for the garage led by Andrea Stella and Zak Brown: “If they are not fighting for the championship, then it could work in the long term. But if McLaren returns to challenging for a drivers’ title, and neither of them suddenly becomes clearly superior to the other, it will be difficult to manage the situation.”
The ideal scenario at Red Bull
The situation at Red Bull is decidedly different. Max Verstappen will have a new teammate in Isack Hadjar, but his leadership within the team is not in question: “I believe Hadjar is a really talented driver, and he also has the advantage of the new regulations. He can start from scratch against Max, whereas Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda got into a car with which Verstappen already had a lot of experience and were unable to catch up. In Hadjar’s case, conditions are more favorable in this respect, and Red Bull’s goal must be to find a talent capable of becoming nearly as good as Max.”
As the 2026 season approaches, the contrast between McLaren’s balanced “two-number-one” strategy and Red Bull’s Verstappen-centric approach will be one of the most fascinating storylines to follow. While Norris has proven he has the grit to overcome a point deficit and technical setbacks, the looming challenge of a surging Oscar Piastri may require more than just “merit” to overcome; it will require precise political management from the Woking squad to ensure their title defense doesn’t implode from within.
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