The McLaren man battled hard in his first-ever title challenge against Max Verstappen in 2024, but vital mistakes, both big and small, saw his bright season fizzle out into a damp squib.

Similar problems reared their heads in 2025, and after the summer break, a mechanical failure at the Dutch Grand Prix saw him drop from P2, allowing teammate Oscar Piastri to open up a 34-point gap over him in the drivers’ standings and seriously dent Norris’ title hopes.

Since then, the turnaround has been stark. The Brit now sits atop the drivers’ standings by 24 points, putting together calm and composed drives that were rarely seen last campaign, along with stunning performances at the biggest moments of the season.

It shows that Norris may have what it takes to fight for World Championships, not just this year, but for the rest of his career.

Another nearly season was on the cards for Norris if the first half of 2025 was anything to go by.

The 25-year-old impressed everyone by opening up the 2025 season with an impressive wet-race win at the Australian Grand Prix, underlining his championship credentials. However, disappointing qualifying sessions littered the first half of the campaign.

A P6 was all he could muster at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and then a crash during Q3 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix meant he was forced to start from P10, resulting in plenty of self-criticism as he let slip his lead in the championship to Piastri, derailing his campaign.

That gut-wrenching DNF in Zandvoort looked to have been another decisive blow. But, with the pressure at its highest, Norris resuscitated his season, out-qualifying his teammate in five of the last six Grand Prix weekends, and out-performing Piastri in all six races, to put the Brit on the front foot and turn the title battle on its head.

Then, at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the site that marked the end of Norris’ title challenge in 2024, after flailing from P1 to P6 at Interlagos, became a place that proved he has the heart to fight for World Championships.

The McLaren driver pulled a lap from the fire when he needed it most, catapulting him from P10 to P1 on the grid after a failed first lap. That was then backed up by a calm, composed, championship-winning drive.

Norris controlled the race from Lap 1 to 71 to win from pole, despite not having his usual dominance in the pace department, to banish the demons from his capitulation in 2024 and accentuate his belonging at the forefront of a championship battle.

High-quality performances in those bigger moments have propelled Norris back to the top of the drivers’ standings. But the devil is in the details, too. Small changes in the Brit’s racecraft have been instrumental in his 2025 transformation.

There were plenty of signs that showed Norris had what it took to fight amongst the best, with dominant wins in Zandvoort and Singapore in 2024 reaffirming that. However, small chinks in his armour started to appear, even after winning by 20+ seconds.

McLaren totally dominated the Dutch Grand Prix last year, but it was far from a convincing performance. He lost out to Verstappen at the start - a common trend in 2024 - and a mistake-filled performance almost cost him all 25 points. The same can be said in Singapore, where Norris came unnecessarily close to ending his race by only just avoiding the barriers.

Now, there are little to no mistakes, just more control and poise. At the Mexico City Grand Prix, a commanding performance featured no slip-ups or mistakes in total contrast to the last campaign. A race weekend later in Brazil, Norris and McLaren were not as dominant pace-wise, but a faultless drive saw him hold his gap and not allow any inroads into his lead from an impressive Kimi Antonelli.

As mentioned previously, race starts were another Achilles heel for the McLaren man. In 2024, he converted just two of his eight pole positions into race wins, putting him on the back foot several times at critical moments.

How much difference a year makes. Now, five of the six pole positions from Norris in 2025 have been converted into Grand Prix victories, already bettering his win tally from the 2024 season alone. A hugely significant and potentially championship-defining change.

The tide has turned on the mistakes that haunted Lando Norris last year in his first title challenge. Now, the 25-year-old has shown he has the heart and the strength to fight for the 2025 World Championship and many more for years to come.