One of the most striking debates of 2025 is who will be McLaren’s lead driver? Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have highly competitive MCL39s, but only one of them can claim the title this year. While McLaren itself emphasizes its focus on the constructors’ championship, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher suspects that Piastri is already the internal favorite. According to him, Norris simply makes too many mistakes.
During the recent Grand Prix of Canada, things went wrong again for Lando Norris. After a rather dull race, the two McLaren drivers clashed in the final stages. In a fierce battle for a podium spot, Norris hit Piastri’s rear tire with his front wing. This marked the end of the race for the 25-year-old Brit, who consequently lost valuable points to his teammate. Norris took responsibility and apologized to both Piastri and McLaren, but according to Schumacher, he has already squandered his chances within the team.
In a conversation with the German branch of Sky Sports, the former driver stated that Norris shows too many weaknesses and still makes too many mistakes. “Lando shows too many weaknesses and makes too many mistakes, including that pointless collision with Oscar in Canada. Of course, he apologized – which shows that he is a great person. But it doesn’t help him, because great people rarely win titles.”
‘Norris is Still Faster’
Despite his lag in the championship, Norris’s speed is not in question. Up until the qualification in Montreal, he even seemed to be the big favorite for pole position. However, things went wrong; in his first fast lap in Q3, he went too wide at the chicane, and in his second attempt, he hit the wall. The result? Only the seventh starting position. In the race, he managed to fight his way forward, until a collision with Liam Lawson spoiled his progress and he returned home without any points.
“This is really a low point – he has completely lost his self-confidence,” Schumacher declared. “You have to give it to him; he was faster than Lawson again. He didn’t manage to show it in the qualification, but in the race, he closed the gap and was simply better. He still has the speed, especially in the race. Norris also has that fine sense for tire pressure – in Alain Prost‘s time, he would have also received the nickname ‘Professor’. The only problem is in his head.”
