#4 · McLaren
Lando Norris
2025 World Champion. Took McLaren back to the top after a decade and a half in the wilderness, then beat Verstappen and Piastri to the title at the final round.
11
Race wins
38
Podiums
12
Pole positions
1
Championships
Why he matters
Norris was McLaren’s first world champion since Hamilton in 2008 and the team’s first since Mika Häkkinen if you discount Hamilton’s McLaren title (which was Mercedes-engined). The 2025 championship fight went down to the final laps in Abu Dhabi between Norris, his teammate Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen — the closest three-way title finish since 2010.
How he drives
He drives a car visually softer than Verstappen — fewer steering corrections, smoother on the throttle out of slow corners — but is just as quick. His weaknesses, when he has them, are starts and the occasional tyre-temperature struggle in qualifying when track conditions change between Q2 and Q3.
Watch for
- His qualifying laps in the second half of the season — he was on pole eight times in 2025.
- His relationship with teammate Oscar Piastri — the polite intra-team rivalry of 2024 became less polite by the end of 2025.
- His karting-buddy friendship with Verstappen, which has noticeably cooled since they started fighting for the championship.