Lando Norris responds to losing F1 championship lead with defiant message

Lando Norris appears unconcerned and is "not surprised" about losing the lead of the F1 drivers' championship at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver came home fourth at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, whilst team-mate Oscar Piastri took victory. 

That 13 point swing means Norris now trails the Australian by 10 points after five rounds, 99 to 89.

After the first weekend of the triple header, in Japan, it was 13 points in the Briton's favour, but back-to-back poor qualifying performances have left him conducting damage limitation on Sundays.

In Saudi Arabia, a crash in Q3 ended Norris' session early and erased any chance of taking pole. He lined up for the race in tenth, but could only get as far as fourth by the chequered flag.

Reflecting on the situation and his recent results, the 25-year-old insists he is performing well in races, seemingly the basis of him being unperturbed by the developing title picture.

"I'm not surprised, because of the mistakes I've made over the last few Saturdays," Norris told media including RacingNews365 when his slip to second in the standings was highlighted.

"My Sundays, I think I'm pretty happy with, I've been pretty strong all of my Sundays [recently]. I have the confidence, the pace is there, and I feel like I'm at the best at the minute."

Regaining control of his destiny

Norris was one of the stand-out qualifiers in F1 last season, matching Max Verstappen with eight pole positions. Against Piastri, it was a significant point of strength.

However, across the opening rounds of 2025, the 24-year-old has drastically reduced that deficit, something he highlighted as a weakness to address coming into the campaign.

Nonetheless, Norris maintains that if he can correct his form in grid-setting sessions, which has deserted him of late, he will get himself back into the driving seat of the championship fight.

"I just I make my life too tough on Saturday," he said. "So, I'm making myself work for it, makes my Sundays a little bit more fun at times.

"I just missed out on the trophies [in Jeddah]. I gotta work on my Saturdays, and if I can work on my Saturday, I'm confident I can get back to where I was."