After winning the 2025 Formula 1 championship and forever solidifying his name in the history books, Lando Norris is putting together one of the worst title defences the championship has ever seen.
The Briton currently sits sixth in the drivers’ standings on just 201 points with six races to go. If he finishes sixth or lower, he will be the first reigning champion to finish outside the top five the following season since Damon Hill in 1997.
Hill won the title with Williams in 1996, but was dropped by the team and moved to Arrows, finishing 12th in 1997. Since then, the worst a reigning champion has finished is fifth.
Arguably, Nico Rosberg failed to defend his title after becoming champion in 2016 due to his retirement, but I’m not sure that counts.
Norris is only 14 points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who sits in fifth, and 20 points behind Max Verstappen in fourth. So even though there are no sprint race weekends left this season, it’s still possible for Norris to pull himself out of this slump. But that’s if McLaren can improve the car before it’s too late.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
“The car’s not quick enough and it’s too difficult to drive. We’re a long way off,” he told the media after he finished fourth at the Singapore Grand Prix.
“You have to always look at the package, you know?” team principal Andrea Stella said. “I think we know that tracks with long straights, we are not that great. The package is not strong in these circuits.
“So tracks like Baku, like Monza, like Las Vegas will be difficult. The the car is strong in low speed, in very small tight, little corners when you have to be on brakes… these kind of things. I think it’s quite good, but it’s not the best so we need to work on that. You know it has strength, it has weaknesses and it will go up and down for the rest of the season.”
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