Lando Norris says he needs F1 title lead over Max Verstappen to contain rival's aggressive driving tactics

Lando Norris says he needs to build a Formula 1 championship advantage over Max Verstappen to prevent his rival being able to “sacrifice himself” with aggressive driving.

Norris helped McLaren to a first constructors’ crown since 1998 as he claimed the first four race victories of his F1 career in 2024 but ultimately finished 63 points behind Red Bull’s Verstappen as the Dutchman claimed his fourth successive drivers’ title.

There were several flashpoints between the pair as Norris attempted to overhaul the considerable advantage Verstappen had built during the early stages of the season, with a collision in Austria followed by controversial incidents at races in the United States and Mexico.

Speaking on Thursday after McLaren became the first team to launch their 2025 car, Norris said: “I want to race against Max and I do enjoy those moments. Some things obviously didn’t end up in the perfect way, in the perfect scenario.

“I think coming from the points deficit that I have, even though the majority of the time we were quicker, and I had a better car for a lot of the races, those kind of things, which I can happily admit, there were some things where I just didn’t do a good enough job.

“I wasn’t simply quite at the level that I need to be to race against Max. But when we’re talking about that, we’re talking about probably going up against one of the hardest attacking-defence guys you can ever go up against.

“Like we saw in Mexico, and I don’t want to go through all these things again, but like we saw in Mexico, very willingly sacrificed himself for the benefit of the overall outcome.

“And when that’s the mentality of a driver, whether it’s Max or any driver, that’s a very difficult one to ever come on top of when you’re 50 or 40 points behind in the championship, because it’s never going to be a win for me.

“So, what’s the main thing that’s going to change this year? I just need more points from the beginning, and hopefully it’s the other way around.

“Being in his position you can always see as the vulnerable position, and me being kind of the chaser and the guy trying to attack can also be seen as a positive and negative.

“But with how he drives and the risks that he takes and the aggressiveness that he has, there was almost no way that I could come back from the deficit that I had, because there would have been too many scenarios that replicated Mexico or replicated Red Bull Ring, that kind of thing, where we were both out in the way. That probably benefited him more than it did me.”

‘I need to get my elbows out with Max’

Norris and Verstappen are currently the favourites to compete for the 2025 drivers’ title, with the 24-round season set to begin in Australia from March 14-16.

Asked whether he needs to make an early statement to Verstappen, Norris accepted that he must “get his elbows out” but also said he had to be careful not to forget about the “long game”.

The Brit said: “I need to get my elbows out and I need to show him that I’m not going to willingly give him any positions, those kind of things. But I also have to be a smart driver. You have to be a smart driver to go up against Max. We saw it last year.

“I look forward to them. I like those moments when you have to make those quick decisions. It’s always a lot harder when you’re in the car than when you rewatch it after. Even when I see some things that I do, I’m like, ‘what the hell have I done? What an idiot.’

“But at the same time, I want to say that I don’t need to go out and just prove something to him. I don’t need to take any unnecessary risks and don’t need to go down trying necessarily. I just keep focusing on myself.

“I don’t think you have to do anything special to try and beat Max. He’s quick, he’s aggressive, he’s one of the best ever. The easy way is just going out and being a bit quicker than him and staying ahead. That’s the obvious plan. You’ve just got to be smart. That’s the answer to it all.

“You have to be smart and you have to position the car well and also think of the long game sometimes.”

Norris: MCL39 felt good at Silverstone

Earlier on Thursday, McLaren became the first F1 team to reveal their 2025 car ahead of three successive days of official pre-season testing that begin in Bahrain on February 26.

McLaren ran the MCL39 in a shakedown at Silverstone, with Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri sharing 200km of permitted track time.

With all 10 of the sport’s teams obliged to reveal their 2025 liveries at F1’s special 75th anniversary launch event at The O2 arena in London next Tuesday, McLaren ran the car with an alternative ‘geometric camo design’ in shades of papaya and black.

After driving the MCL39 on Thursday morning, Norris told Sky Sports News: “They’ve changed more than you might think when you look at the car, which is a cool thing. I mean, you try and improve in every area, right?

“You try and make it lighter, stronger, faster, more powerful, whatever it is. I think every single piece on the car has been worked on and improved.

“Sometimes it all adds up to tiny things, but sometimes you talk about small margins at the same time. It felt good. I mean, it’s nice to be back in the car.

“It’s exciting. First year for all of us as a team that we’re coming in as champions and with some targets on our back. It feels good, but the guys are doing an amazing job. So, yeah, good to be back.”

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