Jacques Villeneuve credits Lando Norris's 'change in attitude' for 2025 F1 title success
1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve identifies Lando Norris's mid-season mental shift—stopping his habit of public self-criticism—as the decisive factor in his 2025 F1 title win over Max Verstappen.
Jacques Villeneuve has credited a mid-season "change in attitude" from Lando Norris as the key factor in the McLaren driver's 2025 Formula 1 World Championship victory. Norris clinched the title by a mere two points over Max Verstappen, ending the Dutchman's reign, with Villeneuve pointing to the Briton's shift away from self-criticism as the transformative moment.
Why it matters:
Norris's championship win, achieved by overhauling a significant points deficit to teammate Oscar Piastri and holding off a charging Verstappen, validates the immense impact of a driver's mental resilience. For years, Norris's public self-flagellation was seen as a potential weakness; overcoming it to deliver under ultimate pressure marks a profound personal and professional evolution that was decisive in the title outcome.
The details:
- After retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix post-summer break, Norris trailed Piastri by 34 points, with Verstappen also a formidable threat.
- Over the final nine races, Norris outscored Piastri by 47 points, a swing critical to his championship charge as Verstappen outperformed both McLaren drivers in the same period.
- Villeneuve highlighted that Norris stopped "berating himself" and publicly apologizing in the season's second half, shifting his focus purely to execution.
- This mental shift coincided with the title fight becoming a direct battle against Verstappen, after Norris had lost the championship lead.
The big picture:
The 2025 season resolves a long-running narrative around Norris's potential. Villeneuve notes that Norris drove at the end of 2025 at the same high level he showed at the end of 2024, proving his skill was never in doubt. The championship-winning difference was his newfound ability to maintain that elite mental approach and error-free consistency across the entire campaign, a challenge he had previously struggled with.
What's next:
The question for the defending champion is whether this hardened mindset is permanent. Villeneuve explicitly states Norris's challenge is "keeping it going all year, for 24 races." As the target on his back grows in 2026, his ability to consistently apply this championship-winning attitude will define his capacity to build a legacy or become a one-time title winner.