Lando Norris 'change of attitude' highlighted in F1 title transformation

Jacques Villeneuve has credited a mid-season "change in attitude" from Lando Norris as the catalyst for the Briton's F1 drivers' championship success in 2025.

The McLaren driver clinched the crown by two points from Max Verstappen, dethroning the 71-time grand prix winner in the process, and the 1997 world champion believes that Norris no longer "berating himself" was transformative.

After retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix — the first race back after the summer break — the 26-year-old found himself 34 points adrift of Oscar Piastri, but he was able to weave together an impressive comeback over the final nine rounds, outscoring his team-mate by 47 points over that period.

It proved critical to the championship standings. Despite Verstappen outperforming Norris and Piastri to the tune of 68 and 115 points, respectively, over the run-in, he fell just short as the new champion upped his game enough to hold on.

Villeneuve was quick to credit the 11-time grand prix winner for how he finished the season, but highlighted the need to consistently perform to that level across an entire campaign.

In the intra-McLaren fight, over the first half of the season, Piastri was more error-free and clinical, allowing him to seize control of the title battle as mistakes added up and started proving costly for Norris. 

"He’s been in F1 for quite a long time now, so he has experience, he honed his skill, and at the end of the season, he drove like he did at the end of last season," the Canadian told PokerScout. "That’s his very good level.

"What he has to work on is keeping it going all year, for 24 races."

Norris has long been criticised for how he handles himself in the media, often deemed too honest and open about his shortcomings, with the self-flagellation considered a weakness and the manifestation of an underlying issue with his mental approach to racing.

However, Villeneuve observed a change in him as the season progressed, which he pointed to as the shift that instigated his comeback in the title fight.

"But we also saw quite a change in him during the season," the former Williams, BAR, Renault and Sauber driver said.

"Early in the season, he was always berating himself a lot. And that stopped in the second half. We saw a change of attitude as well.

"He stopped apologising for things, and he actually focused on what needed to be done. Once he wasn’t in the championship lead anymore, once things went backwards, and once the fight became a fight against Max."