As Motorsport.com reports, Lando Norris is putting together a surprisingly brutal Formula 1 title defence after taking the 2025 championship crown. Right now, the McLaren driver sits sixth in the drivers' standings with 201 points and only six races left on the calendar.
If he stays where he is or drops further, he will become the first reigning champion to finish outside the top five in the following season since Damon Hill back in 1997. Hill took the 1996 title with Williams before moving to Arrows and landing 12th the next year. Since then, the lowest any defending champion has ever fallen is fifth place, a mark shared by Jacques Villeneuve with Williams in 1998, Lewis Hamilton with McLaren in 2009, Jenson Button with McLaren in 2010, and Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull in 2014. Nico Rosberg walked away into retirement immediately after his 2016 triumph, of course, making his case a completely different story.
I think we know that tracks with long straights, we are not that great. The package is not strong in these circuits.
There is still a tiny window to salvage the campaign. Norris sits only 14 points behind Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in fifth, and 20 points back from Max Verstappen in fourth. Even with zero sprint weekends left to claw back extra points, climbing out of this slump remains mathematically possible.
That recovery rests entirely on whether McLaren can fix their machine before the season expires. Following a fourth-place finish at the Singapore Grand Prix, Norris offered a blunt assessment of his equipment to the media: "The car's not quick enough and it's too difficult to drive. We're a long way off."
Team principal Andrea Stella pointed out the fundamental limitations baked into the design, explaining that circuits featuring long straights expose their weaknesses at tracks like Baku, Monza, and Las Vegas. "You have to always look at the package, you know?" Stella said. "I think we know that tracks with long straights, we are not that great. The package is not strong in these circuits."
At the same time, the machine does possess specific virtues. Stella noted that it performs well in low-speed, tight, small corners requiring heavy braking. Yet with clear strengths and weaknesses dictating their weekend fortunes, the team knows the remainder of the year will fluctuate wildly as they desperately search for answers.
