Lando Norris

Lando Norris is looking to defend his crown in the 2026 F1 season, his eighth with the Woking outfit McLaren.

After finishing runner-up to Max Verstappen in 2024, Norris went one better last season as McLaren celebrated a world championship double. 

Norris overcome a difficult middle part of the season as he won seven times on his way to narrowly defeating Verstappen and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to the world championship in a title fight that went down to the wire in a nail-biting climax in Abu Dhabi. 

2025 was the year Norris proved his doubters wrong by winning his maiden world title his way. Heading into 2026 as the defending world champion, the Briton will carry a new confidence as the man to beat. 

Lando Norris given F1 chance by McLaren

Norris got his F1 chance in 2019 at McLaren, making the step up from Formula 2. He finished second in the F2 Drivers’ Championship, missing out on the title to George Russell.

While Norris was outscored by Carlos Sainz during their two years together as teammates between 2019 and 2020, the pair were generally evenly matched, with Norris’ qualifying speed notably impressive. He claimed his maiden F1 podium finish at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.

2021 was the coming of age for Norris as he enjoyed an incredible season alongside Daniel Ricciardo. For much of it, he sat ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the drivers’ championship.

Norris cruelly missed out on his maiden F1 victory at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, with McLaren taking part of the blame for misinforming Norris about the weather forecast.

2022 was also a strong campaign for Norris, as he was the class of the midfield. Norris had to wait until the middle of 2023 before he had a car finally capable of challenging for the podium on a regular basis. He finished second on six occasions in 2023, ending the year as the most in-form driver behind Max Verstappen.

McLaren’s Miami update transformed their 2024 campaign, allowing Norris to take his long-awaited first victory. He added three more wins to his tally (Netherlands, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi) but was left to rue a number of missed opportunities through mistakes or poor strategy calls.

Norris achieved his childhood dream in 2025 and will be looking to repeat the feat heading into F1's new era.