Former McLaren Formula 1 star Mika Hakkinen believes Lando Norris is “absolutely” ready to become a ⛦world champion this year.

Norris challenged Red Bull’s Max Verstappeꦐn for the drivers’ title in 2024 as the MCL38 became increasingly competitive in the s🦄econd year of the year, but the Briton was ultimately no match to his rival who romped to a fourth consecutive title.

Many criticised Norris for making too many errors and for his failure to capitalise on Red Bull’s woes, and the McLaren dri♔ver himself admitted that he and his team simply didn’t do a “good enough” job last 🃏year.

However, Hakkinen, who scored both of his F1 titles with McLaren in the late 1990s, believes the issues Norris faced in 2024 were a part of his growth journey and he now has♌ a sꦅtronger chance of taking the fight to an in-form Verstappen.

Asked if the 25-year-old is read༒y to 💟become a champion after the events of 2024, Hakkinen told the : “Absolutely, yes.

“Why? Because I experienced many years of racing without success, ꩲbut it was part of my development to become a good ꦗracing driver.

“You have to maintain your criticism about yourself. That way you keep developing and pu💞shing. That means you are taking risks.

“Lando experienced all these elements in his career. He’s been taking risks🐻. He’s been critical of himself. He’s been pushing flat out.

“When you’re not world champion, when you’re worki꧑ng towards that goal, it requires a lot of mistakes and stress. I believe Lando is ready. He is flat-out ready to achieve his goal.”

Norris ultimately finished second in the F1 standings last year, 63 points down on Verstappen, after scoring a maiden win in Miami and clinchin🍨g further victories at Zandvoort, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, McLaren lifted the constru꧑ctors’ championship for the first time since Hakkinen led the Woking-based team to a title double in 1998.