Before the summer break, Lando Norris had the momentum in the fight for the championship, with the Brit winning three of the last four races. He was looking good for pole position at the Dutch GP, topping the timing sheets in all three practice sessions. However, at the business end of qualifying, his teammate and rival Oscar Pisatri narrowly beat Norris to pole by 0.012 seconds.
Towards the end of the race, the field was bunched up due to a late safety car. After the restart, Norris was just over a second behind Piastri, but unable to pile pressure on. Instead, his car gave up the ghost and retired with a suspected power unit failure. However, despite being 34 points off the summit, Norris now believes he has “nothing to lose” in the championship fight.
Lando Norris admits winning the championship will now be difficult
Lando Norris believes that winning the championship following his DNF at the Dutch GP will be a tough ask. However, the 25-year-old says he will continue to challenge his teammate by trying to win all the remaining races.
Speaking to the media after the race, Norris conceded, “The only thing I can do is try to win every race. That’s going to be difficult, but I’ll make sure I give it everything I can.
“It’s just close. I have a good teammate; he’s strong, he’s quick in every scenario, so it’s hard to get things back on someone who’s just good in pretty much every situation. But yeah, it certainly hasn’t helped the [title] race.
Lando Norris on his disappointing race after a DNF at Zandvoort:
“I mean, it was just a tough race, so I wanted to sit down. I was, yeah, I guess a bit disappointed, but, uh, nothing I can really do about it in the end, so. Um, yeah, frustrating, but nothing, uh, is out of my…
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) August 31, 2025
“It’s only made it harder for me and put me under more pressure, but it’s almost a big enough gap now that I can just chill out about it and just go for it.”
Norris was having a good race up until that point. After a sluggish start, he passed Max Verstappen to regain second. He then fought back and caught his teammate before the safety car neutralised the race. A second-placed finish would have been his, which would have kept him right on Piastri’s tail.
Why the championship is not over for Lando Norris
Lando Norris still has nine races to claw back the 34-point gap to Piastri. While the gap looks large, there are still 249 points up for grabs. He needs to keep winning races, and if he does, the gap will close rapidly.
There is also a chance Oscar Pisatri could not finish a race for the first time since Austin 2023. Mercedes has experienced a few reliability issues with their own vehicles and customer teams. The Dutch GP was the first time that a suspected power unit failure had hit McLaren. Who is to say it won’t happen with the other car, too?
Oscar Piastri on how he pulled off the perfect win at the Dutch Grand Prix:
“I controlled the race when I needed to and you know, obviously it was incredibly unfortunate for Lando at the end, but yeah, I felt like I was in control of that one, used the pace when I needed to and…
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) August 31, 2025
The issue Norris has is that Piastri has been very consistently reliable. The Australian has stood on the podium in thirteen of the fifteen races so far this season. The only way Norris can catch him without outside factors is to win races. No one else will likely challenge the McLarens for wins so it will be a straight fight between the two.
The question is whether Norris can keep his nerve and have a strong mentality. Do you think the Brit can still win the championship? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
