World Cup favorite before decisive race
Will the nightmare catch up with him again?
November 7, 2025 – 7:34 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Last season, Lando Norris had a very bitter day at the race in Brazil. This year it could be decisive again in São Paulo.
It was the day that Lando Norris’ World Cup hopes literally swam away. Norris started the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix race weekend 47 points behind World Championship leader Max Verstappen. However, due to his significantly improved McLaren, there was hope that he would still be able to catch the Dutchman.
The starting position was promising: Norris secured pole in qualifying, Verstappen was only allowed to start from 17th place due to some bad luck and a penalty. For Norris, this was the perfect chance to gain a lot of points. But the race turned into a disaster. While Norris ended up only sixth due to bad luck with the safety car and his own mistakes, Verstappen secured victory with a spectacular performance. In doing so, he extended his World Cup lead to an almost unassailable level. Norris’ World Cup hopes were gone.
This year, Norris and Verstappen are once again in the fight for the title before the Brazilian Grand Prix – under different circumstances. Nevertheless, the race on the Interlagos circuit could once again play a key role. Will the nightmare catch up with Norris again?
Lando Norris made no secret of how deep the trauma of the Brazil race and the missed World Cup opportunity was. “I didn’t sleep. I went through 26 hours,” admitted Norris in the Netflix documentary “Drive to Survive” after the botched Brazilian Grand Prix last year. His head was still turning too much. “It sucks. That was our chance. Now it’s game over,” said Norris.
The scenes from Brazil and his statements afterwards fit into the image that Norris portrayed. The McLaren driver was always open about his mental problems and also admitted to self-doubt. After bad races, he judged himself harshly and always looked for the faults within himself.
This earned Norris some admiration. However, some observers also doubted that Norris is mentally stable enough to deliver in the crucial moments. Some people questioned whether he had the qualities of a world champion.
The doubts accompanied Norris into the new season. The 25-year-old did win the opening race in Australia. As a result, however, it was teammate Oscar Piastri who achieved the better results. While Norris appeared nervous and repeatedly made simple mistakes in view of the dominance of the McLaren and the associated World Championship opportunity, Piastri seemed ice-cold and grabbed the lead in the World Championship.