Herbert: The bubbly Norris we saw is no longer there

Norris took victory at the Hungaroring after losing ground off the line but recovering with a composed, mistake-free drive through the field, managing tyre wear over a long final stint to hold off teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The win was McLaren’s 200th in Formula 1, and Norris’s third of the 2025 season.

“I actually texted Lando’s dad Adam quite quickly after the race and sort of went, ‘That’s mega!’” said Herbert. “He came back and said, ‘Yeah, boy did good.’ He did do good, he did brilliantly. He was on the back foot after the start but then drove brilliantly.”

Herbert admitted he had concerns when Norris was pushing hard on a second set of hard tyres: “I was a bit worried when he put the second set of hard tyres on and he was doing the fastest lap after the fastest lap. I was going to the TV, ‘Don't damage them, don't burn them out!’”

“You actually saw Oscar caught him up but then when he got close his tyres started to go off at the same time,” he noted. “It's brilliant to see from Lando because there's been a lot of criticism about his performances, about his race-craft, about his consistency. But he has turned it around. And as his Dad said, the boy has done good.”

According to Herbert, this shift isn’t just technical, but psychological. He believes Norris has become less playful and more ruthlessly focused on winning.

“It’s definitely a mental shift because think about the bubbly Lando we knew when he first came into the sport. It is not there at all,” he said. “Even the bubbly Lando that we probably saw earlier this year is not there anymore.”

“When we saw him in that cool-down room after the race, it was a very professional Lando Norris. It was a very different mentality that I think he's taking into his cockpit because he knows how important it is for the Championship.”

Herbert believes the McLaren driver understands this season may be his best shot at the title: “As I've said before it may be the only opportunity they have because of the rule changes coming next year.

"He’s got to put every single fibre of his being and effort into making sure that he is mentally in the right place and physically in the right place. And he's been doing that. That consistency has really started to shine through," added the Englishman.

Norris’s recovery from fifth to first after a poor getaway further impressed Herbert, who said the Briton showed the sort of composure and adaptability needed to win championships.

“There was still that issue at the start when he got swamped and suddenly he was in fifth and suddenly he was on the back foot. But it’s the way he bounced back that was so impressive,” said Herbert. “That response is how champions are made. They have to dig deep and they have to come up with an amazing race.”

“And it was one of those amazing races because he was so far behind in many respects. But to get himself in that position and get those tyres through those 38 laps and he made no mistakes, no errors and I think that again is another sign that his concentration levels have gone up another level. It’s brilliant to see.”

Herbert concluded with a clear declaration: “When he came into Formula One he was bubbly and outgoing. Now he's a serious, serious driver and a very difficult man to beat.”

With ten Grand Prix weekends remaining after the summer break, Norris has closed the gap in the 2025 F1 Drivers' standings from over 22 points after Canada to nine before Round 15, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort at the end of this month.