Damon Hill warns Lando Norris: Don’t fall into Max Verstappen “trap” again

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill says Lando Norris needs to see Max Verstappen as his “worst enemy” rather than his friend if he’s to win this year’s world championship.

Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive drivers’ title in 2024, seeing off Norris’ late-season charge.

The Dutchman managed to keep Norris at arm’s length, particularly during the pair’s on-track battles.

Even though Verstappen was penalised twice for incidents with Norris, the wheel-to-wheel fights often benefitted the Dutchman more.

Norris was criticised for being naive against Verstappen on track, as he was unable to take the title race down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hill has warned Norris from falling into one “trap” again in 2025.

“I still think he can beat Oscar. Oscar is brilliant, but Lando has pulled out a bit extra when needed. Oscar is talented but Lando is a force,” Hill said.

“I think he fell into the trap last year of thinking when going up against Max that he was racing against his mate. Actually, despite their friendship, he was taking on his worst enemy. And in Max’s mind when he is driving there is just Max.

“Lando blames himself when he makes mistakes. He is very hard on himself. He is not happy if he doesn’t think he has got 100 per cent out of his potential. It is a hallmark of a great driver. I also like his personality. It is very appealing.

“Because I live in Guildford, McLaren are my local team. I would like to see them do well, but not to be dominant. I would prefer it to be a hard fight, good for the fans. Formula 1 is so much more complex than when I was driving. It was relatively simple then.

“You would get radio messages occasionally. But often nobody had any idea of what to say to help. Now the information comes quick and fast. Lando is one of those drivers who can take in the information without missing a beat.”

Norris seen as the favourite heading into Australia

It’s widely accepted that Norris is the heavy favourite heading into the new F1 season.

McLaren’s pre-season testing pace was impressive, particularly Norris’ long run on the second day in Bahrain.

Norris was approximately six-tenths faster than Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli during the race runs.

Similarly, Oscar Piastri was just over 0.3s faster than George Russell.

However, with Bahrain being unusually cold, the picture could be entirely different in Australia this weekend.