Lando Norris has the pace and the machinery to win the F1🏅 drivers’ championship this season, our experts predict.

McLaren’s Norris fought valiantly last season but fell short against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who racked up his fourth title in a row꧟.

But McLaren ended 2024 with F1’s fastest car which sho💎uld give Norris hope to build an early advantage against Verstappen this year.

“The pace he showed at the end of th🌃e year, he really cut out some of his mistakes,” said Connor McDonagh, who backs Norris for the drivers’ title, on the Crash F1 podcast.

“I know Brazil was a little bit all ♏over the place, he ran wide a couple of times.

“But some of his performances - from pole to win - have been at 🌌an incredible level.

“The gap he had to Oscar Piastri is underrated.

“People go on about Piastri being so close, but actually Pia𝓡s꧂tri out-qualified him four times!

“I think Norris is the ma൩n to beat, and has th൲e fastest car.

“The winner of the first race? Charles Leclerc, in a feelgood 🌃story for Ferrari.”

Lewis Hamilton backed for F1 title

A second prediction for the drivers’ title also t𝔍ips Verstappen to lose his strang𓂃lehold over the top prize.

“I will say Lewis Hamilton for the win in Australia - he’s got an incredi🌜ble record in Melbourne, and Ferrar🤡i are historically competitive there,” predicted Lewis Larkam.

“What a story that would 🅰be, to win on his Ferrari debut and replicate the feat that Fernando Aꦓlonso did.

“It would spur on this hype train.

“The driver𓆉s’ champion🐷ship? If we are going bold, I’ll go for Hamilton…

“This is the mov💯e that he needed to rejuvenate himself.

“Last season there was ♕an element th♉at he checked out. It was strange timing, it made the situation odd, that we knew before the season that he would move to Ferrari.

“He was getting phased out of meetings, as you♌’d expect.

"Whether Geor🦄ge Russell got preferential t☂reatment with set-ups? We don’t know.

“It was one of hi🐠s 🔯worst seasons in F1 statistically but when there was a sniff of a win, he took it!”

The F1 grid is expected to conver🎐ge, in terms of competitiveness, in 2025 because it is the final year of the current engine regulations.

It means every team will be looking to 2026 and beyond, so we sh𒈔ould see closer racing this season.

That might give Verstappen his hardest job to defend h💧is title yet - or might give the Red Bull driver an opporওtunity to further prove his brilliance.