McLaren F1 star Lando Norris admits NOT prioritising championship battle

Lando Norris, McLaren, Belgium, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Lando Norris admits NOT prioritising F1 championship battle

Lando Norris is currently fighting for his first F1 title

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 23 September 2025 11:57

Lando Norris has admitted that the F1 championship battle is not his number one priority in a recent interview.

The McLaren star enjoyed his first taste at a title battle in 2024, where he took the fight to Max Verstappen from the Miami Grand Prix onwards, although lost momentum towards the end of the season.

A year later, Norris’ title adversary has transformed into team-mate Oscar Piastri, with the Brit having to adapt to the consistency and often infallible performances of the Aussie in 2025.

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Despite crashing into his team-mate at the Canadian GP, Norris altered his title fortunes by securing three victories in Austria, Silverstone and Hungary ahead of the summer break.

Entering the remaining seven rounds, 25 points separate both Piastri and Norris in the standings, with the Aussie suffering a DNF last time out in Baku, but the Brit was unable to secure a result better than seventh.

Norris in shock admission over F1 title fight

F1 drivers are renowned for their desire to win at any cost, with this characteristic often differentiating good athletes from the greatest in the sport.

Norris has engaged in an entirely different approach in F1 however, and stated to British Vogue that winning the championship is not his number one priority.

"I want to enjoy my life and have fun and share it with others," Norris explained.

"For me, that’s the priority. Priority number two is to try and win the championship."

Norris has often delivered existential musings on the importance of the F1 title race, and in Hungary said: "In 200 years no one is going to care. We'll all be dead."

The 25-year-old has also been praised for his attitude in F1, with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel crediting his openness regarding his emotions and mental health, when most other criticised the impact of this on track.

Both Norris and Piastri differ from title rivals of the past, reluctant to discredit each other in the media, notably silent on their collision in Montreal and team orders in Monza, in what appears to be a new and modern approach to the F1 title fight.

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