‘Aggressive’ Verstappen tipped to put Norris’ title celebrations on hold

Lando Norris is “gonna” win the F1 2025 title, but he’ll have to wait until Abu Dhabi as Max Verstappen will line up in Qatar grid willing to risk everything, whereas a DNF would cost Norris dearly.

Norris heads into the penultimate round of the championship with a 24-point lead in the standings ahead of Oscar Piastri and Verstappen, who are tied on 366 points, with 33 up for grabs at the Lusail International Circuit.

Will Lando Norris wrap up the World title in Qatar?

That means Norris only has to outscore Piastri and Verstappen by two points, or one point if he wins Sunday’s grand prix, to seal the title on Sunday.

Simple right?

Not if you ask the F1TV pundits in Qatar.

Presenter Laura Winter did just that, asking if Norris could do it in Qatar.

Former IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe replied: “It’s tough… I think he’s gonna do it, I don’t think he’s gonna do it this weekend.”

Asking the rest of the team if they were in “agreement”, seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya said “yes, absolutely”, before highlighting the Verstappen factor.

“Max is gonna be so aggressive,” he said, “because for Max, he either has a chance of the championship or he doesn’t care.

“So he knows that Lando’s in such a comfortable position of the points that the only thing Lando cannot afford is a DNF.”

More on the F1 2025 title race from PlanetF1.com

👉 How can Lando Norris win the F1 2025 title at the Qatar Grand Prix?

👉 Oscar Piastri’s emphatic answer to ‘number two’ role question

Hinchcliffe responded: “And we talk about this, you know, coming into this weekend about being a McLaren track, especially an Oscar Piastri track, but you’ve got to remember Max has won it twice.

“George was on pole last year because Max took a penalty. Max was actually the quickest car in qualifying. This is a Max track, too.

“And the momentum that he’s had recently, that pace on the Red Bull in comparison to the McLaren, I do think he’s going to be the car and driver to beat this weekend.

“So, I don’t think Lando’s going to outscore him in Qatar… but I think he’ll get it done in Abu Dhabi.”

For now, though, Norris is going to have to wait.

This is, however, the McLaren driver’s first time of asking as even his best result in Las Vegas would’ve left him short of the mark.

As it happened, Norris wasn’t able to achieve that as he tried to squeeze Verstappen off the line only to fumble his breaking into Turn 1 and run off the track.

Norris recovered to cross the line in second place but was later disqualified, as was Piastri, for excessive skid plank wear.

“And also,” added former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, “imagine any sort of situation where Max has nothing to lose. That’s a disaster for Lando starting on the front row.

“We saw it in Vegas. He started on pole and was so hellbent on getting to the inside line that he missed his braking point because he was just looking over, looking over. ‘Oh no, missed the braking point’. Opens the door to Max and George.

“That’s a horrible situation to be in when you’re on pole, but you’re just thinking ‘this guy is going to just do anything to beat me’.

“And I think Max this weekend may well have enough to take it on.”

Read next: McLaren DSQ raises questions about ‘random’ post-race scrutineering