Outside Line: Hail Lando Norris! Did the best man win?

For me, the season ends with a paradox that our sport can create on occasion. You cannot deny the numbers, the final score, and I will add that Norris is the deserved 2025 title winner. Has there ever been an unworthy Formula 1 World Champion?

Whatever the case, for me, Max Verstappen was the best driver and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. The entire F1 grid knows it. The paddock felt it. Real fans know it. Norris knows it. And that is what will make it even sweeter for the 26-year-old Briton, who will go down in history as winning a title during Verstappen's era, a driver already destined for GOATness.

History will show that Verstappen imperiously carved a deficit of over 100 points down to a mere two by the time the flag fell in Abu Dhabi, ending the quest for a fifth F1 title by the narrowest of margins, against all odds. Nevertheless, that epic chase was one of the greatest I witnessed in the half-century I have followed our sport. A one-man crusade. An act of defiance and no knowledge of giving up.

Yet he did not win number five. And the reason sits squarely in the chaos Red Bull created for themselves. Christian Horner’s removal mid-season after 20 years detonated the team from the inside. Laurent Mekies walked in with zero time to settle, zero stability, and one simple truth staring him in the face. Verstappen was the weapon.

The number two seat was a glaring problem. Liam Lawson was dumped before he even had a chance. Yuki Tsunoda never found his feet. The whole project became focused on giving Max the tools to win a title he should have had no claim to against that mighty McLaren MCL39.

Yet, it was agonizingly close. But it did not happen. And Red Bull will feel this one for a long time because had they hung on to veteran Sergio Perez - who Max respected and worked well with - the outcome might've been totally different. In the end, full blame on Horner for why this season does not belong to Verstappen. And big credit to Mekies for doing what he did for the team. He saved it from itself.

2025 belongs to the Formula 1 World Champion Lando Norris. Fully. Deservedly. The man who kept his head best, in the most intense team environment McLaren has faced since Hamilton-Alonso, even Senna-Prost.

Papaya Rules was a disaster. A farce masquerading as rules of engagement. And the double disqualification in Las Vegas was the team's fault. Yet somehow, they survived their own shenanigans long enough for Norris to rise above it.

Let us be honest. In the first half of the season, Oscar Piastri owned Norris. Norris was a mess. All over the place. He needed a wake-up call. The critics gave it to him. He said he ignored them. Nonsense. He took every word and turned it into fire. He started to drive like Verstappen.

And the moment he did, Piastri dropped the ball. Completely. The speed vanished. The form evaporated. And the title slipped away from him. Baku was his nadir of the year.

In contrast, the seesaw swung to the other side of the garage. Norris struck exactly when it mattered, and in Abu Dhabi, he drove like his nemesis in the #1 blue car. Cold. Precise. Relentless.

On another note, if this had been the Verstappen of 2021 with the ruthless Red Bull operation of that season, the same hunger to beat Lewis Hamilton, the race would have been a massacre. But it was not. The Dutch ace was relaxed, almost resigned, handing over his crown with a dignity he did not often show in earlier years.

He knew the fight was done a long time ago, but a mere sniff of the big prize kept him at it. The way only Max knows. He knew the season had broken too many things around him. He had four, why go for it as if he had none?

On the flip side, Norris realized this was the moment. The moment that may never come again. And he seized it. I said earlier this year that a Norris Title would not be a bad thing.

His triumph is one for the Nice Guys. And they rarely finish first in this sport. It usually takes a ruthless b@stard to win a Championship. Norris did not need to become one. His post reaction was heart-warming. Lando won his way. And good for him.

However, as a publisher of pundit quotes and sticking up for our kind, Norris owes a thank you to every critic who pushed him to raise his game to be taken seriously, the Villeneuves, the Herberts, the Montoyas, who we love to quote for their no-BS stances on our sport. Lando absolutely heard them. He absolutely reacted. And he absolutely drove like Verstappen to get it done.

As for Piastri, let me be brutally clear. He will be the World Champion! He is the most complete young driver we have seen in years. Level-headed. Mature. Explosively fast when it matters. Racecraft that defies his age. When Verstappen was three seasons into his career, he did not look like this.

Piastri is the real deal and so might've been world champ had the coin toss gone the other way. He is only going to get better and better and better. Norris might, too. Verstappen always will. But if I look into the crystal ball, Piastri, I feel could define the next era.

In the end, the fabulous 2025 Formula 1 season belonged to Norris; the best driver was Verstappen. And the future might well be all about Piastri. Bring on 2026.