Norris, calm for the Qatar GP: “Nothing should change”

Lando Norris Keeps Calm Ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix

DOHA – Lando Norris, McLaren driver, remains calm and focused, despite the imminence of the Qatar Grand Prix, where he could secure his first world championship. Norris, who currently leads his teammate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen of Red Bull, considers both as rivals to be taken into account, regardless of their differences in performance. The McLaren driver leads with a 24-point advantage over Piastri and Verstappen, on the verge of the penultimate race of the 2025 season. The recent disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix due to irregularities in the wear of the single-seater’s planks, a harsh blow for the team, does not seem to have affected Norris’s morale.

“Of course it hurts,” Norris commented on the disqualification. “There’s a lot of effort every weekend from everyone, including myself, and I certainly felt that effort disappeared very quickly… Everyone at McLaren feels disappointed with what we had as a result and we’re all disappointed… but it was actually quite easy for me to move on and have a few days off and come to this weekend.”

Lando Norris

Norris was relaxed during media day, despite the importance of the event. The pilot claims to have managed to isolate himself from media pressure and the environment.

“I feel like everything is the same, to be honest. I feel good. I’ve had a nice few days off. I arrived on Monday morning, so I’ve been here for a while playing golf, padel, enjoying a few days off, enjoying warm weather for once… it feels like a long time ago! I know I feel good. I feel excited for this weekend. I don’t feel like I had a bad weekend last weekend or that we had a bad result, so that’s good.” Despite the situation in Las Vegas, attention is focused on Verstappen’s challenge, who has shown exceptional performance in the second half of the season. McLaren reiterated that it will not implement team orders to slow down Red Bull until one of its drivers is on the podium. This decision could be considered bold, given Verstappen’s recent form, who has won four of the last six races. On the other hand, Piastri’s performance has declined in the same period. After winning the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Piastri was ahead of Verstappen by 104 points and Norris by 34. However, he hasn’t been on the podium since the Italian Grand Prix in September. Despite the differences in the performance of their rivals, Norris considers both a real threat to his title aspirations.

When asked if he now sees Verstappen as the main threat, Norris replied: “No, I think they are both the same. They are both equally good, I know what Max is capable of and I think Oscar is capable of exactly the same as Max. So no, I think they both have pros and cons… [Max] is in a different team and Oscar is also in the same team… but every driver wants to fight for their own and prove that they are the best. I think they are both competitive, they are both very strong, they are both incredible drivers and I am excited to give them a good fight on the track”.

When asked if he felt any additional pressure due to Verstappen’s proximity, Norris pointed out that the difference with Piastri was the same before the race in Nevada. “No, because the difference before was 24 and it’s still 24, so my advantage is the same. There’s nothing that should change. I think we were still fast last weekend, we would have been even faster without the problems. I think we know that Red Bull has been fast lately, so we expect them to be faster this weekend, we expect them to be good next weekend, but there’s nothing that should change for anyone. We have treated Max and Red Bull as a great team and a great competitor all season and that continues now, so no, nothing changes for all of us.”