Montoya Hails Norris as Deserving 2025 F1 Champion

Former racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes Lando Norris deservedly won his first driver’s title in 2025. The Colombian emphasizes that the McLaren driver was outperformed in the final Grands Prix by challenger Max Verstappen, but he does not forget how many points Norris had scored earlier in the season. Considering the entire season, the Brit would be the rightful champion, partly thanks to his highly competitive MCL39.

Many experts still consider Max Verstappen – despite narrowly missing out on his fifth consecutive title – as the strongest Formula 1 driver. However, according to Montoya, this does not detract from Lando Norris’s achievements. “Verstappen was strong in the final races of the year, but over the entire season, he was not the best,” the former Formula 1 driver stated in his MontoyAS podcast. “Midway through the season, Lando was the best and at the beginning of the year, it was Oscar (Piastri). The problem is that people often only remember recent results.”

‘Memory of a Goldfish’

Verstappen particularly turned up the heat on his rivals in the last triple header. He won three races in a row, but ultimately fell two points short of beating Norris. “Max performed excellently in the final races, but people sometimes have the memory of a goldfish; they forget what happened earlier in the season,” said the six-time race winner. “Or they have the memory of an elephant, but then only remember selective events.””In an interview with Grosvenor Casinos, Montoya admitted that Norris did benefit from having the best car. “Lando is a worthy champion, but anyone could have become world champion in that car,” he explained. However, according to Montoya, this does not detract from Norris’ achievements. “Two years ago, Max Verstappen had the best car. So was he a worthy champion? Yes, of course. Just like Schumacher was with Ferrari or Senna with McLaren. They still did fantastic work. That’s just part of it.”