Red Bull is suffering the much-dreaded F1 period after Adrian Newey’s exit, what experts predict to be only the first domino of many. Ominously, Max Verstappen‘s first non-DNF missed victory followed at the Miami GP. Lando Norris snatched his first F1 win after 15 career podium finishes. Riding high on that wave of confidence, the Briton has warned Verstappen of McLaren’s even bigger step.

McLaren revamped Norris MCL38 with a rush of upgrades for the Miami GP. And it worked out perfectly, ending his unwanted ‘podiums without a win’ record. Surprisingly, Team Principal Andrea Stella claimed that these upgrades were only Step 1 of 2. This implies that Max Verstappen will face a bigger threat to his dominance, with Newey already having left Red Bull in unknown territory.

Lando Norris has even declared McLaren as a 2025 championship contender. On being questioned by Sky Sports’ Craig Slater about the Woking outfit’s chances at fighting Red Bull for the 2025 championship, Norris replied, “Next year? Oh, one hundred percent, one hundred percent. But I am saying that with still my feet on the ground. I want to believe we’ve got two great drivers. As Zak (Brown) normally says, I’ve got an amazing team behind me. We have an amazing team behind us and we’re closer than ever.”

He elaborated on his pre-2024 promise, saying, “As much as I said at the beginning of the year that we could win races, I want to believe and we should have the confidence to say next year, we go for more. We can go for the next step. But we have a lot more work to do and we’re working hard to try and achieve it.”

McLaren’s progress after Andrea Stella took over as Team Principal has been phenomenal. Their developments are quicker than Ferrari and Red Bull isn’t that far off now. Norris even expects his dynamic with Verstappen to change if such close battles ensue at each race weekend.

Lando Norris expects his friendship with Max Verstappen to change in championship battle

Norris and Verstappen have remained good friends since their arrival in F1. Even after the former’s Miami win, Verstappen was ecstatic that his closest friend won, if not him. But like Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton’s friendship graph, this duo could also be at conflict if Norris keeps challenging Verstappen for wins.

When Craig Slater asked the McLaren driver about this possibility of their friendship changing, he replied, “I’m sure it will. Like, I don’t want to say it in a bad way. We have respect for one another, we get along. We’re not best friends. We don’t text each other every day, that kind of thing. But we just have a lot of respect from him to me, and me back to him. So I look forward to it,” he concluded.

Norris has finally proved his worth with the under-pressure performance in Miami. “It’s just the start“, is what he affirmed after the win. Max Verstappen finally has a worthy opponent.