Lando Norris has thrown down the gauntlet for McLaren—and Formula 1’s heavyweights—in a candid, no-holds-barred discussion about the team’s relentless drive to stay on top after their hard-fought constructors’ championship triumph in 2024. Speaking with a rare blend of optimism and brutal honesty, Norris painted a picture of a McLaren that refuses to rest on its laurels and is laser-focused on not just surviving, but thriving in the cutthroat world of Formula 1.
“Last year wasn’t good enough.”
Despite clinching the championship, McLaren knows they didn’t make it easy for themselves. Norris minced no words, admitting the team created unnecessary obstacles. “We made life difficult for ourselves at times,” he said in a revealing interview during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The message was clear: McLaren’s achievements in 2024 are already old news. Their mission? Build a future where winning isn’t just possible—it’s inevitable.
“One thing we’ve realised as a team is now we are there; we want to make it easy for ourselves. We want to keep going so that we can win these races easily, and not have them as difficult as they were last year,” Norris stated, leaving no doubt about McLaren’s hunger for a smoother path to victory.
A fight for dominance in the tightest F1 season yet
The upcoming season isn’t just a battle—it’s an all-out war. McLaren faces intense competition from Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes, all of whom are aggressively refining their designs to edge out their rivals. Ferrari is taking risks with their 2025 car, Red Bull ended last season with momentum on their side, and Mercedes is determined to rebound from their setbacks.
Team boss Andrea Stella is under no illusions about the challenge ahead. He highlighted the razor-thin margins McLaren operated within last year, warning that the slightest slip could prove catastrophic. “We have achieved the 2024 constructors’ championship, but the performance advantage we had was 0.04% on average, and the points margin was 2%,” Stella said.
“Over 666 points in a season, these margins simply mean that if you don’t do better next year, then you have to be ready to face a loss. We don’t want to face a loss. We want to continue winning. Therefore, we need to raise the bar.”
Strategy blunders that nearly cost McLaren glory
McLaren’s victories last season came with a side of drama. Strategic missteps—like questionable tire choices at Silverstone and Monza—left them vulnerable at critical moments. At Monza, leaving the door open for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pull off a one-stop strategy stung deeply, costing the team a win they could have seized.
Even more glaring was the murky communication around team orders between Norris and his rising-star teammate, Oscar Piastri. McLaren’s indecisiveness allowed friction to escalate, most notably at Monza, where Norris and Piastri tangled at the second chicane, handing the advantage to their rivals.
“Doing the right thing” became a balancing act. While prioritizing Norris could have bolstered his shot at the drivers’ title, McLaren hesitated to undermine Piastri, aware of the long-term damage it could do to team morale.
Norris’s moment of truth
Norris, too, is holding himself accountable. The 24-year-old phenom acknowledges that his 2024 campaign wasn’t without flaws. Poor starts in Spain and Hungary, critical errors in Belgium, and missed opportunities in head-to-head battles against Max Verstappen revealed gaps in his game.
“I came close-ish last year,” Norris admitted. “But I could smell it. I had that feeling of like, ‘OK, this is kind of what it’s like.’ It was within reach. This year I need to fix a few things, work on some things, and come back stronger.”
Norris’s determination to elevate his performance is palpable. His words at Davos carried the weight of a driver who knows greatness is within his grasp—but only if he can rise to the occasion.
Can McLaren turn ambition into domination?
McLaren’s goal of “winning easily” might seem audacious in a field as competitive as modern Formula 1, but overshooting may be their best strategy in a sport where aiming too low guarantees failure. While outright domination may remain elusive, Norris and McLaren’s relentless pursuit of perfection positions them as a force to be reckoned with.
As the 2025 season looms, the stakes have never been higher. F1 teams have learned that once you reach the top, the only way to stay there is to fight like you’ve never won before. For McLaren, the battle isn’t just about holding onto their crown—it’s about proving they deserve it.
