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Coronel was asked if any driver could dethrone Verstappen in 2025 and he immediately named Norris, who finished as the runner-up of the 2024 Formula One World Drivers’ Championship with McLaren.
Lando Norris. (X)
Dutch racing driver Tim Coronel has made a bold prediction for the 2025 Formula 1 season weeks ahead of the new campaign as the 52-year-old has opined Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will not win his fifth F1 title this year.
In an interview with RacingNews365, Coronel was asked if any driver could dethrone the Belgian in 2025 and he immediately named Lando Norris, who finished as the runner-up of the 2024 Formula One World Drivers’ Championship with McLaren.
“Lando Norris. You’re as good as your last race, and he’s just ridiculously good,” the Dutchman said.
“You saw in the last race [in Abu Dhabi] that Carlos Sainz took a shot and then Norris was able to accelerate again,” he said.
Max Verstappen clinched his fourth consecutive championship last year despite Red Bull slowing down in the middle of the campaign. McLaren’sLando Norris was able to close the gap as the season progressed. Verstappen’s healthy advantage from the opening rounds, however, was enough to win him the F1 title.
Despite RedBull’s solid campaign, Coronel believes Norris and McLaren will find more success in the 2025 season.
“So he just has what it takes. McLaren will be the best team with the best car, and then if Norris isn’t under too much pressure, he’ll do his thing nicely as well,” he said.
Coronel has backed Lando Norris to adopt a more robust approach to compete against Verstappen this year.
The British motor racer had recently declared he would get his elbows out for the upcoming campaign. Seeing the McLaren driver’s confidence, Coronel believes Norris will build a healthy lead in the early stage of the season, putting him en route to title success.
Coronel even claimed that Verstappen was a little ‘lucky’ in the final half of the previous campaign.
“In the last half of the season, he [Verstappen] was smart and had a few lucky moments, and he made sure that Norris couldn’t catch up so quickly,” he said.
Coronel feels Norris has now gained some crucial experience which will help him overcome such problems in the upcoming season.
“I think Norris has grown along the way and those problems will no longer be there,” he said.
Norris finished in top place in four Grand Prix events last year including, Miami, The Netherlands, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The McLaren driver will have his eyes set on the title this season.
