"They've been performing better than we have": Norris on Verstappen joining the title fight

Written by Kavi Khandelwal

Currently P2 in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, Lando Norris arrives at the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix with his rival and teammate, Oscar Piastri, firmly in his sights. However, he is also looking over his shoulder at a resurgent Max Verstappen.

Credit: Formula One

Norris "sounded pretty philosophical about his situation" when speaking to the media, and for good reason. He is in the complex position of hunting down his teammate, who sits just 14 points ahead, whilst also fending off Verstappen, who is in superior form.

The inter-team battle at McLaren has been defined by a dramatic momentum swing. Piastri's championship lead, which was once a comfortable 32 points, has been whittled down by Norris' relentless consistency.

Since suffering a "reliability-led DNF" at Zandvoort that cost him 18 points from a near-certain second place, Norris has been the in-form driver at McLaren, consistently outscoring his teammate.

This fact was not lost on Norris, who confidently assessed his recent performance: "Have I still been doing a better job and scoring more points than the guy ahead of me, yes."

However, Norris was brutally honest about the second front he is fighting.

"But have I been outscored by the one behind me, also yes," he admitted. That "one" is Verstappen, who has charged back into the title picture, after winning three of the last four races.

"Max [Verstappen] has been in very good form the last few weeks, the last month or so," Norris said. "They've been performing better than we have, he's obviously won a good amount of races, and he's Max Verstappen."

He was pragmatic about the Red Bull driver's chances, adding: "You'd be silly if you didn't want to give Max a chance for achieving another World Championship. I think rightly so."

Norris pinpointed Red Bull's qualifying pace as their key advantage.

"At the minute, they're in better form. He's won more races, he's had more pole positions," he explained. "A lot of races, they've just been quicker - especially in qualifying, which has led on to being better in some of the races, but I think we still have chances."

This complex, two-front battle led Norris to his philosophical conclusion.

"There are good things and bad things, otherwise, just keep doing the job I'm doing," he said.

Despite the pressure, Norris' self-belief remains high: "I feel like I'm getting a lot out of the car and, yeah, maybe not performing to perfection, which is always hard to do, especially in our car. But at the same time, I'm performing very well and consistently, and that's also a good place to be."