Martin Brundle believes it will take everything Lando Norris has got to beat teammate and Championship rival Oscar Piastri to the 2025 title.
After a tense battle in Belgium that saw Norris lose first place to Piastri on the opening lap, F1 pundit and former driver, Martin Brundle, has given his opinion on the battle for the Drivers’ Championship within McLaren after consistent performance at Spa-Francorchamps despite mistakes from both drivers.
Brundle believes Lando Norris is faster but Oscar Piastri is more consistent
While Piastri took the win at the Belgium Grand Prix, it was Norris on pole for Sunday’s race, after both drivers attempted to hunt down Max Verstappen for the win in Saturday’s Sprint Race. Norris put together an unbeatable lap in qualifying for the main race, while a mistake at Stavelot cost Piastri pole position.
After an 80-minute delay for the Grand Prix, Piastri stormed past Norris out of Eau Rouge on the first green-flagged racing lap, and a later pitstop call put Norris 9 seconds behind his teammate. Despite Norris steadily closing the gap, three mistakes on track lost him time and he was unable to pass Piastri.
Lando Norris on his mess-up that might have cost him the victory at Spa
“Oscar just did a good job, nothing more to say. Committed more through Eau Rouge, got the slipstream and the run. That was it, nothing else I could do at that point. Oscar deserved it today.
Shoulda,…
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 27, 2025
In an article for Sky Sports F1, Brundle said: “I’ve felt the same way all year, when all the stars align I believe Lando is marginally the faster, but Oscar is more consistent, makes fewer errors, and is more clinical in combat.
“His head is always rock solid. He’ll take some beating in the closing stages now.”
The presenter also compared Piastri’s drive in mixed conditions to that of some of the sports all-time greats, such as Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Norris will have to give it his all in order to beat Piastri
Brundle also gave his insight into what Norris will have to do to come out on top this season, noting that we have seen unbelievable turn-arounds in the sport after the summer break, reminiscent of Lewis Hamilton in 2021.
He said: “Lando will need absolutely all he’s got, all the time, to win this. We’ve very often seen two championship combatants find an overdrive and move to a scarcely believable level of delivery, it will be interesting to see if that happens over the next three Sprints and 10 GPs.”
McLaren will be taking the fight to the Hungaroring this weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix, where tension arose last season after a mistake from the team led to team orders for Norris, who had to give the lead back to Piastri, who then claimed his maiden F1 win.
Will McLaren come out on top again this weekend, as Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari continue with significant upgrades?
