F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Lando Norris, who is eight points behind championship leader and teammate Oscar Piastri, has built a bit of momentum with wins in the last two races.
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This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will be the first time in 20 years Red Bull Racing will not be led by Christian Horner, who was sacked two weeks ago following the British Grand Prix.
As the team embarks on the post-Horner era, former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, said the team is set for some tough times ahead, having lost its team boss, who was instrumental in all its success.
“It was very sudden, unexpected, but it’s been brewing in the background for quite a while. It is destabilising for the team because Christian ran the factory, so this will have an effect, and it will take a bit of time to rebalance everything,” said Villeneuve.
“It’s been a little bit difficult for the team. Adrian Newey (former technical boss) and some other key team members have left. But Christian Horner brought the team to where it is now. So it’s very tough on him, this situation, and it’s difficult from the outside to understand the reasoning behind the whole situation.”
Commenting on this year’s championship, the 1997 drivers’ champion believes Lando Norris, who is eight points behind championship leader and teammate Oscar Piastri, has built a bit of momentum with wins in the last two races.
“Lando seems to have recovered a bit. He seems to be more emotional than Piastri, but he has a slight edge in speed. So when you take the two into account, it’s hard to know which one has the better shot at winning.”
“There’s a big difference between being the team leader, the championship leader or being the underdog. Lando seems to be better when he’s a little bit behind and has to fight back to come forward. So he is in a good position right now,” said Villeneuve.
(FanCode is the official broadcaster for F1 in India).
Published – July 25, 2025 11:09 pm IST