Norris takes aim at rivals, media for 'crap' talk, but it's all part of the game

Lando Norris reckons the media is partly responsible for the belief that his McLaren team is so far ahead of its Formula 1 rivals in 2025.

The Woking squad has enjoyed a great start to the season, winning the first two races, a feat the British team had not achieved since the 2003 season, when David Coulthard and Kimi Räikkönen took victory in Australia and Malaysia.

McLaren’s winning start, added to a strong finish to its 2024 campaign, has led to some of its rivals believing it will be untouchable throughout the year.

“Their car is definitely capable of winning every race,” Mercedes‘ George Russell said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, where McLaren secured its first one-two of the year.

“Their car should win every race, but I don’t think they will win every race this year. So, let’s see, I think the gap they have on everybody this year is bigger than Red Bull has ever had,” added Russell.

Norris won the Australian Grand Prix from pole position, and the team would have likely scored a one-two had Oscar Piastri not spun while fighting for victory in tricky conditions.

The only time so far that McLaren’s hegemony has been challenged was in the Chinese GP sprint in which Lewis Hamilton took a surprising win. On Sunday, however, normal order was restored and McLaren dominated proceedings, with Piastri leading Norris home.

The results have inevitably put McLaren as clear favourite at the moment, a fact that is further strengthened by Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari not having established themselves as the clear challenger to the Woking team’s dominance.

While Max Verstappen put Norris under pressure in Australia – mostly thanks to the wet-weather conditions -, the world champion was not in contention in China and finished a distant fourth.

Mercedes, for its part, has enjoyed a solid start but has also not been a real challenger for victory, much like Ferrari, which has underperformed as it continues to get the best out of its car, particularly in qualifying trim.

Norris, however, said ahead of the Japanese GP that talk of McLaren being unbeatable was “crap”, and pointed a finger at the media for reporting what his rivals are saying without further scrutiny.

“I think the people that say that, like the unbeatable stuff, is just nonsense. They just like to talk crap sometimes,” Norris said on Thursday.

“But I mean, it’s your job as the media to figure out these things, I think, and not just listen to what everyone says and write what they say.

“You have to try and understand what they’re saying and prove that what they’re saying is a fact rather than I can just say a load of crap and you write it down.

“But it’s up to you, I think, to get across the facts of what is true, and not just write nonsense that people like to say.”

He added: “I think if we go back one year ago, Red Bull were still a lot further ahead than we are now. So I think we’re doing a very good job and I feel like people are talking about us a lot more now, I think it’s because of where we’ve come from over the last year and a half, the deficit we’ve come from.

“But the car Red Bull had at this time last year was a lot better than what we have now, compared to our competitors. So I think you have to take that into account.”

All part of the game

While Russell’s comments in China could have been seen as mind games aimed at putting pressure on McLaren, there is no denying that the team has been one step ahead of its rivals so far.

McLaren boss Zak Brown said recently on the TechStuff podcast that Russell’s remarks are part and parcel of the pressures on being the F1 benchmark.

“That’s part of the head games and the politics that go on, that’s a way to put pressure on the team,” said Brown. “Kind of, ‘If you don’t win all 24, then you’ve done something wrong, and it’s a disaster’.

“So that’s nothing more than some of the stuff where people put pressure on people in different ways to try and destabilise them. So coming out with what appears to be a nice compliment is actually a way to apply pressure.”