Who slept worst last night: Norris' critics

I'll gladly admit: I had written off Lando Norris in the title fight for the2025 Formula 1 season some time ago – not fast enough, not consistent enough, too many mistakes. But in the past few weeks, he's proven me and all his critics wrong: Norris is back – and better than ever.

And now that he's leading the drivers' standings again, I ask myself: Who's going to stop him?

Mexico was truly a "show of force"

Sky expert Timo Glock is right when he says that Norris's commanding victory at the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix was a "show of power." That's probably even an understatement.

Just to put this into context: Norris dominated from Saturday onwards and finished Sunday's race with the largest lead in over two years. That's how long it's been since someone last won with a gap of more than 30 seconds to the second-placed driver. It was at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix , and the winner was Max Verstappen – who later became world champion.

But don't worry: I'm not basing my World Championship prediction on a single race result, of course. Rather, I'm basing it on the current situation in the title fight.

The current situation in the title fight

And it's important to note: It's no coincidence that Norris is now at the top of the Formula 1 drivers' standings , as in five of the last seven races he has performed significantly better than his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri . Piastri, in turn, was last ahead of Norris at Zandvoort—a lifetime ago by Formula 1 standards.

My colleague Oleg Karpov already described it in his commentary a few days ago: Perhaps the Zandvoort retirement triggered something like a "now more than ever" mentality in Norris. In any case, he seems much more focused since then, and he's also been driving better—much better than Piastri, who seemed to have him easily under control until then.

At the same time, Piastri has lost his mojo. The "double crash" in Baku and the loss of speed in Austin and Mexico City, in particular, have taken their toll on the former championship leader's confidence. Piastri has never been this baffled . Where Norris seemingly easily extracts the power from the McLaren MCL39, Piastri is no longer able to find his stride.

And then there's Max Verstappen, who's been in the spotlight so much in recent weeks because of his incredible run since Zandvoort and his incredible comeback: In seven races, Verstappen has won four times, finished second twice, and third once—what a run of form compared to the lackluster summer at Red Bull! And yet he remains the underdog in the World Championship battle, especially after a tough weekend in Mexico.

Norris is suddenly World Championship favorite

This means Norris holds all the cards. He says he doesn't believe in "momentum," that positive momentum. But that's exactly what he's experiencing right now: It's happening, seemingly with effortless ease. He just has to get out onto the track and the lap times will come – it's that simple. That does something to a driver – it suddenly makes Norris the favorite for the title.

He himself said after the race in Mexico: "One great weekend alone means nothing. Two, three, or four in a row – that's something else. I'd like to build on that, but above all, I have to stay focused."

Will he succeed after the "best weekend of the year"? There's much to suggest he will: his current form, Piastri's weak phase , and his points lead over Verstappen . While Norris hasn't yet touched the trophy, he's made a statement: He's a force to be reckoned with again in this title fight—and his critics won't like that at all.

Even the boos can't hurt him

Even the boos in Mexico bounced off Norris. He was silent for a moment as the boos began. Then he said: "One weekend at a time. I'm happy. I'm focusing on myself and ignoring all that. Because right now, it's working." Many hadn't expected that. I explicitly include myself in that.

I guess that means a rather restless night for me as well – but if that gives us a fantastic finish in this Formula 1 title fight, then I'm happy to be wrong!

Yours, Stefan Ehlen

Do you think similarly – or completely differently? Then let's discuss it: Feel free to message me on X or Facebook and we'll get chatting!