The 2025 Belgian Grand Prix saw Lando Norris throw away a win that should have been his. He made a few key mistakes both at the start and towards the end of the Grand Prix that ultimately cost him the victory. This has allowed Oscar Piastri to extend his lead over Norris in the Championship to 16 points.
Thorughout the weekend, Former F1 Champion, Nico Rosberg, has been quite vocal on what’s been happening at Spa. During the F1 Show Podcast on Sky Sports, Rosberg criticized the mistakes that Norris had made throughout the race.
Nico Rosberg compares Lando Norris to Max Verstappen
During The F1 Show Podcast, Rosberg went on to list the mistakes Norris had made that cost him the race win. Along with that, he made a bold comparison.
“I think he could have done a bit better. I mean, Oscar was literally in his gearbox on the restart. It felt like Lando just didn’t nail that because you can take the guy by surprise.
“[…] You’d think that Verstappen would have done it better. That’s kind of the thought that you would have had when looking at that. And that lost in the race.”
During the rolling start after the safety car was called in, Norris made a couple of key mistakes. He first used up most of his battery before turn 1. Piastri, on the other hand, was saving it to use it down the Kemmel straight, which presents the best overtaking opportunity on the circuit.
Norris then had a moment of oversteer while exiting the first corner and had to take a slightly wider line. Piastri was able to keep his McLaren stable and use his battery on the way up through Eau Rouge and all the way down the Kemmel straight. This made getting past his teammate easy for Piastri.
And yes, Nico Rosberg is right. The mistakes that Norris made at the start of the race are not something we would see Max Verstappen make with a win on the line. In the past, we have seen Max prove again and again why he is arguably the best driver on the grid.
Lando’s second wave of mistakes that cost him the win
With half of the race completed on a damp track. Most drivers switched to a pair of medium tyres when the track started to dry up. Knowing that he didn’t have track position, Norris’s side of the garage opted for a set of hard tyres to try and catch Piastri at the end of the race.
This was working out perfectly, as with 10 laps to go, Norris began closing the gap to the Championship leader. However, he made three key mistakes during the last five laps that robbed him of a fighting chance.
Would Norris have overtaken Piastri if not for those mistakes in the final five laps? We’ll never know. But with a championship on the line, these are mistakes a driver can’t afford to make, especially when the driver is trailing the championship leader.
With just 11 races to go in the season, Norris will have to go all out if he hopes to catch his teammate. Right now, it seems as though both McLaren drivers are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. They are being overly cautious as they are teammates. But now that McLaren has more or less secured the Constructors’ Championship, it’s time to remove the kid glows and go racing for the title.
