Lando Norris shows familiar signs as Oscar Piastri emerges as genuine F1 title contender

Norris extended his lead in the world championship with a comeback drive in Bahrain but his nearest challenger in the standings is now close to home

Lando Norris has a new closest contender in the world championship after the Bahrain Grand Prix (Getty Images)

Without a victory since the season-opener in Australia, Lando Norris had some ground to make up at race four in Bahrain. After an under-par qualifying, he recovered from sixth on the grid and a false start to ultimately finish on the podium in third. Yet despite teammate Oscar Piastri claiming his second win of 2025, the Briton extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings from one point to three points.

“Everyone says I’m leading the championship, I don’t know how at the minute, I’m pretty surprised,” Norris said. It wasn’t his first self-deprecating quote of the weekend – it likely won’t be his last of the season.

It was a theme, starting in Spain last June, which persevered throughout Norris’s inaugural title tilt up against Max Verstappen in 2024. Despite his obvious skill behind the wheel, Norris would often present a figure of self-doubt, constantly questioning his abilities, particularly up against one of the modern greats in the Dutchman.

“I am not doubting myself, even though sometimes it might seem like that,” Norris said, in more depth, after Sunday’s race.

“I know what I can do and what I am capable of and I am not even close to reaching that like yesterday – I am very disappointed in myself. That’s just the way I am, I am just so hungry to win.

“Doing interviews and saying things I do, I don’t think necessarily has a bad impact on myself. I have learnt to block my own comments away from my thoughts. Maybe sometimes I lack a bit of self-belief but that is also me, the way I do things.”

In many ways, Norris is correct to state he should do it his own way. Why change one’s mentality when you’re on the cusp of the peak of your profession? Why alter anything which has got you to this point in your career? Yet world champions, even if they don’t believe it, have a tendency to present an aura of invincibility. And that is something the ultra-composed Piastri – both on and off the track – has in abundance in just his third season in the sport.

On the face of it, if it wasn’t for Piastri’s misadventure into the grass amid the rain in Melbourne, the Australian would be leading the world championship by a healthy margin. Yet that one slip-up means Norris leads in the battle of the McLaren teammates. With two drivers in their mid-20s chasing a first world championship, it looks set to be a title race of fine margins.

And that margin could include something as innocuous as not positioning your car in your grid spot. Oddly, Norris pushed his McLaren car beyond the white line (quickly spotted by Verstappen next to him) and despite a slingshot of a start, he was already playing catch-up on Sunday after being hit with a five-second time penalty for a false start.

Oscar Piastri took the victory with Norris (right) finishing third (AP)

Then, midway through the 57-lap race after the safety car period, Norris was told by his engineer Will Joseph – usually his biggest defender on team radio – that he had to give a place back to Lewis Hamilton after overtaking him off-track.

Norris eventually passed the Brit before pulling a move on Charles Leclerc for third. Yet his mixed day of race combat cost him the laps needed to chase down Mercedes’s George Russell, who held on for second place.

“A tough race,” Norris acknowledged afterwards. “Of course, I made too many mistakes with the overtakes, the out of position [moment] – it was a messy race from me.

Piastri only trails Norris by three points in the world championship (Getty Images)

“Oscar did a good job, so congrats to Oscar and the whole McLaren team. I’ll try to step it up for next weekend [in Saudi Arabia].”

The message from McLaren CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella to their star driver, however, should be to instil an element of calm. There are 20 races to go and Norris is yet to finish off the podium. If he keeps that up, he’ll do well not to be top of the leaderboard by the end.

The only issue for Brown and Stella is that, while McLaren continue to have the quickest car, Norris’s greatest threat looks set to be across from him in the papaya-clad garage. Piastri’s serene demeanour is a major attribute in his own championship charge. And as the paddock makes the move 890 miles west to Jeddah, it’s what makes this intra-team battle a fascinating one to follow as the season progresses, likely with these two as the protagonists.