Lando Norris has given himself a mountain to climb in the 2025 title battle after his collision with Oscar Piastri in Canada.

Tipped as the favourite for the championship over the winter, the Brit has displayed strong performances this season, with a dominant win in Melbourne and his first victory on the streets of Monaco. However, they have been his only wins of the season as Piastri has established an advantage.

Norris has arguably been faster than his teammate in races and has looked competitive in practice and early qualifying sessions. However, mistakes in Q3 and his racecraft have hampered his season, with Piastri grabbing five wins and three poles from the first 10 races.

The Canadian Grand Prix saw arguably his biggest mistake yet, as Norris crashed into Piastri on lap 67 and was forced to retire from the race. The Aussie continued and finished P4, extending his lead in the championship to 22 points.

With almost a race win’s worth of points between the McLaren duo, Norris must get his act together at the Austrian Grand Prix. However, he now has a major question hanging over him heading into the Red Bull Ring.

Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images

Lando Norris has question of how he will become a world champion hanging over him in Austria

McLaren are discussing how Norris will be ‘managed internally’ after his crash with Piastri. The Woking outfit will not want a repeat of the incident, having given the pair the freedom to race each other in 2025.

The Brit needs to find improvements if he wants to battle for the championship. Peter Windsor has told Norris to ‘shorten his corners’ like Max Verstappen to maximise his speed on the exit.

But many are beginning to question if he has the capabilities to challenge for the title. Dutch pundit Jeroen Bleekemolen has been left wondering if Norris wants to be a world champion after his latest mishap in Canada.

“Yes, he has to get back up now and I thought he did that very well in Monaco,” he said via the Paddock Praat podcast.

“Because then we also thought, it’s not really going to work anymore. In one go, he wins again. But yes, then after that another action in Canada that makes you really think, how do you want to become world champion?

“But yeah, we’ll see.”

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Lando Norris has already had his Austrian Grand Prix weekend hampered by Alex Dunne

Norris will be desperate to maximise everything in Austria as he looks to get his title aspirations back on track. However, his weekend will be hampered somewhat as he will step out of his MCL39 in FP1.

F2 championship leader Alex Dunne will get his first outing on an F1 weekend with McLaren in Austria. The Irishman has been slowly climbing the motorsport ladder, currently finding himself three points clear of Richard Verschoor at the top of F2.

McLaren fans are really excited to see Dunne in action at the Red Bull Ring, as he gets a great chance to show his skills. Damon Hill reacted to Dunne replacing Norris for FP1, calling the occasion ‘meteoric’ for the 19-year-old.

While it is great for Dunne, it could be detrimental to Norris, with several drivers having had their weekends hampered already this season. Jack Doohan’s huge accident in Japan came after Ryo Hirakawa replaced him in FP1 at Alpine, which proved damaging for the Aussie and the team.