Lando Norris remains optimistic despite his recent setback at the Dutch Grand Prix. An oil leak, caused by a chassis failure, forced him to retire just seven laps from a second-place finish.
This incident has left him 34 points behind his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ championship standings. However, Norris is confident about recovering in the remaining races.
Before last week’s race, McLaren had maintained a streak of 60 races without a mechanical retirement since the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Norris shared that both McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and chief executive Zak Brown apologised for the MCL39’s failure. “It’s not Andrea’s fault, it’s not Zak’s fault,” he stated, acknowledging their record of reliability.
If either Norris or Piastri wins at Monza, McLaren will achieve their 13th victory of 2025. This would surpass the 12 wins they secured with Alain Prost and Niki Lauda in 1984. It would also be their second-highest number of wins in a single season, following their 15 victories with Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1988.
Norris and Piastri are set to compete in their 63rd race as teammates at the Italian Grand Prix. This makes them the 15th-most raced pairing in Formula One history. With nine races left this season, Norris anticipates more challenges and opportunities to close the gap with Piastri.
Norris emphasises that every weekend is an opportunity to win and he doesn’t plan to change his approach. He acknowledges that racing against Piastri involves mutual respect but also healthy competition. “We still have to respect each other a lot,” he said, noting that they always race each other well and on the limit.
Reflecting on the recent technical issue, Norris expressed pride in McLaren’s previous record of reliability. “I think it was 60 races without a technical failure,” he noted. Despite this setback being unfortunate, he does not blame anyone for it.
Norris remains focused on future races and aims to perform better than ever before. He understands that such incidents are part of racing life and is determined to look forward rather than dwell on past misfortunes.