Lando Norris heads into the 2025 F1 season as the absolute favorite, claims insider

F1 insider Karun Chandhok feels that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could collect early victories this year, while also calling the former the "favorite" heading into the 2025 season. McLaren displayed strong competitiveness during the pre-season testing.

Following the conclusion of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, McLaren is expected to be a strong force on the grid this season. Notably, they claimed the Constructors' Championship last season with their drivers winning six races. Norris clinched four of those wins and finished the season as the runner-up in the Drivers' Championship.

In his recent Instagram post, Karun Chandhok mentioned that McLaren has never been too strong at Bahrain, but considering the data during testing, the team appears to be efficient, which could set a benchmark for the season.

"It does look like McLaren have come out of the blocks very, very strong," he said. "We suspected that would be the case after the back end of last season. And Bahrain is a circuit where they've not traditionally or historically been particularly strong at. So to see them so competitive in Bahrain really boards well for the rest of the season."

He further mentioned that given the car's strength and their drivers' skills, Lando Norris comes out as a "favorite" this season, further adding that Oscar Piastri might as well manage to win the season-opener Australian Grand Prix.

"[This] underlines the point that some of you may have read in my column about the big questions going into the season."

"And then that Lando Norris heads into this year as the absolute favorite. But Oscar Piaster is going to be heading to Australia, his home country, the opening race, also with a firm shot of winning the Australian Grand Prix, something that hasn't happened before."

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Lando Norris delivers verdict on McLaren's 2025 challenger

After putting in hours behind the wheel of the MCL39, Norris revealed that the car felt similar to their last year's challenger. While it might sound like a stagnant progress, he stated that the team had aimed for this.

The 25-year-old further mentioned that McLaren has attempted to make the car quicker and "add more load." While he acknowledged some rear grip issues, the 25-year-old said he wasn't too worried, as it is still "early days."

"It feels similar [to last year’s car], which is a good start, and that's where we wanted to start at least. Nothing's been majorly addressed. It's not like that much has changed—we've just tried to make the car quicker all around and add more load," Lando Norris said.

"But the most simple way of looking at it, honestly, is we still want to try and focus on some areas more than others. We've struggled a bit more with the rear than we would have liked, but it's still early days," he added.

Both McLaren and Ferrari appear strong heading into this season. Both teams battled out for the championship last year, with the latter missing out by a very small margin.