Lando Norris pinpoints the main reason that could decide the championship fate between him and Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris has weighed in on the crucial details that could decide the 2025 Formula 1 championship title. The 25-year-old is currently locked in a title fight with teammate Oscar Piastri.

The McLaren driver, who had kicked off the 2025 season leading the championship with a race victory at the Australian Grand Prix, now finds himself trailing the Australian by 16 points at the halfway point of the season. However, ahead of the commencement of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Norris has detailed a key factor that could decide the Drivers’ Championship.

"It's just who qualifies first and second more often. And you kind of just hold on in Turn One and then go from there. There haven't been many races where positions have swapped through a race. So therefore, it's more about who can make the least mistakes when they qualify first,” he said (via BBC).

During the last Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Lando Norris, who had cut the championship lead down to eight points, missed out on the opportunity to further narrow the gap to Oscar Piastri following a series of mistakes that prevented him from closing in on his teammate.

Norris had initially qualified on pole position but lost the lead heading into Eau Rouge when Piastri completed a first-lap overtake during the weather-affected event. Both drivers will again look to continue their championship rivalry when the lights go out at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

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Lando Norris reflects on his Belgian Grand Prix outing

While he aims to close the gap on Oscar Piastri atop the championship, Lando Norris also weighed in on his outing from the Belgian Grand Prix. The British driver detailed how an incorrect battery setting cost him during the Spa event.

Norris also highlighted that he didn’t have the best start through the Ardennes Forest event.

"I don't feel like I did a bad job. I didn't have the best run, but at the same time, we had some—not problems—but some incorrect settings with the battery, which meant he had a slight advantage of battery compared to me, which certainly didn't help. But I also didn't do the best [first] two corners." "Whether that would have made a difference or not, hard to say. With the issue, he probably would have passed me no matter what. So yeah, a tougher one to take from that perspective," he added.

Through the first 13 races of the 2025 season so far, Lando Norris has claimed victory four times, with Piastri winning on six occasions. With the mid-season break on the horizon, Norris will be aiming to narrow the gap to his McLaren teammate once again as they continue their fight for a maiden championship victory.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar