Lando Norris reveals true Zandvoort impact on F1 2025 title comeback

Lando Norris said Zandvoort was an important reality check, a setback which helped propel him to World Championship glory.

Rather than instilling a feeling of there being nothing to lose, Norris said he knew he needed to “step up” in all areas after the Dutch Grand Prix, where a late retirement dropped him 34 points behind teammate Oscar Piastri at the top of the standings.

Lando Norris had to ‘change’ after Zandvoort

Piastri led the championship for much of the season up to the Dutch GP. There, it appeared as though the Australian had taken a gigantic step towards the crown with victory, all while Norris suffered the heartbreak of a late retirement, forced to park his smoking McLaren.

Yet, Norris rallied and turned the tide. What was a 34-point deficit, became Drivers’ Championship victory for Norris, who saw off eventual runner-up Max Verstappen by two points. Piastri finished third, 13 points behind Norris.

Speaking following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Norris had been asked whether Zandvoort actually released the pressure and allowed him to perform at his best from then on. Norris clarified that Zandvoort actually had the opposite impact.

“I honestly would just want to say no,” Norris replied to PlanetF1.com and other accredited media. “It didn’t allow me to relax. Like, when I see 34 points against a guy who’s in the same car, who’s doing an incredible job, who I know is incredibly quick, that didn’t fill me with confidence.

“And it wasn’t like, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose now, I can just go.’ I felt like I was trying to do everything I could before, and I continued to try and do everything I could after.

“But I just had to step up what I was doing away from the track. The people I was working with, I added more people to that group. I had to work harder both on the simulator and here at track. I had to change my approaches. I had to change my… yeah, like a lot of people do. I had to dig deep and try and understand more things quicker and in a more advanced way than I ever have before.

“That’s what gave me the advantage I had – not, ‘Oh, the pressure’s off, I can go and do what I’d like to do.’ It was really the opposite. I was like, ‘Oh, shoot. I’m quite a long way behind against a pretty freaking fast driver, and I’ve got to step it up.’ And I’ve got to be more myself because of external factors — working with more professionals in different areas to unlock more of my ability.

“And I think when you saw that, I had that run of great results, which is ultimately what got me the championship in the end.”

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Norris was asked to clarify whether post-Zandvoort was the point where he started to change things up, or if that process had already started earlier in the season.

He said: “Honestly, I can’t remember the exact time things started. Certainly levelled up a lot more through the halfway point – around Zandvoort time – but it definitely started prior to that.

“It started after I had that kind of bad run in race two, three, four, five, six, that kind of area. Or certainly when it was like, ‘Alright, my way is not working. I’ve got to understand things differently. I’ve got to speak to more people. I’ve got to understand what I’m thinking, why I’m thinking it. Why am I doing this? Why am I getting tense in qualifying? Why am I making the decisions that I’m making?’ Whatever it may be.

“Certainly, the bad run of results and lack of performance — not speed, because I think the speed’s always there — but lack of putting things together when I had the capability of putting things together, allowed or opened up the doors to go and understand: ‘Okay, I need to do more than just try again next weekend. I need to try and understand things on a deeper level.’ Mentally.

“That opened up understanding myself more, understanding things more at a championship level. That’s the level I’ve got to be at. They are world champions.

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“And yes, certainly the struggles turned into strength. So I would say, if I didn’t have those struggles at the beginning and then had the weakness at the end, would I have caught on to those things as quickly? Probably not. So I was thankful that I had some of the tough moments early on and managed to turn them around.

“When I got in that kind of good rhythm in the last three months, almost when there’s been more pressure than ever, was almost when I felt most comfortable and most confident into qualifying. I could go from chatting to my engineers and having a fun time with my mechanics to going out and getting pole a few minutes later.

“So, yeah, the struggle at the beginning really allowed me to unlock my potential later on.”

Norris ended McLaren’s wait for a new Drivers’ Champion which had been ongoing since 2008, when Lewis Hamilton won his sole title with the team, and first of a record-equalling seven.

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Additional reporting by Mat Coch

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