Lando Norris will hope to make a strong start to the F1 season in 2025.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
Former Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has backed Lando Norris for this year’s drivers’ title.
The McLaren driver finished second in the championship last year behind Max Verstappen but was instrumental in his team winning the constructors’ crown. Based on the times from pre-season testing, McLaren will likely be the fastest car heading into the season-opener in Australia this weekend.
“Definitely Lando. McLaren seems to have made a really strong car,” said the 1997 driver’s champion.
“If you just look at their season and how they progressed, they kept making steps forward. Lando was the only driver in the field that could step up to Max (Verstappen) and was on it every race. If he’s still in the same mindset, the season should start strong. We will have to see how it pans out halfway through the season. But the favourite right now is Lando and McLaren.”
Last year, Norris and Verstappen came together a few times and Villeneuve believes the British racer did the right thing by standing up to the reigning champion. “He didn’t budge. They ended up clashing in Austria and paid a hefty price, stronger than Max did, but ultimately, he showed Max that he wasn’t going to move and was in there to fight. So, he already did the right thing.”
One of the interesting plotlines of this season is Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari and the 53-year-old backed the seven-time champion to raise his game.
“Lewis wants to be the driver with the most championships. And try to win with Ferrari. It is the dream of most drivers. Once you’ve won everything, you still need to win with Ferrari,” said Villeneuve, whose father Giles drove for Ferrari and is widely considered one of the legends of F1.
“He goes into Ferrari knowing that it’s (Charles) Leclerc’s team, and he needs to become the team leader. So I think he will be brutal in that aspect. He knows how to win and how to move a team forward. It will be interesting, because Ferrari is not an easy team. There’s a lot of pressure from the fans and the team. It’s a very energetic place, but not an easy place to evolve, and Leclerc knows it (team) well.”
“And for Ferrari, it’s a win-win situation. If they win with Lewis, bingo, Amazing. If Leclerc beats Lewis, they create a star out of Leclerc. So right now, I guess they’re just waiting to see what will happen but Lewis will not want to be beaten.”
(FanCode is the official broadcaster for F1 in India)
Published – March 13, 2025 09:00 pm IST
