His talent is not in question, by any means. But his judgment is. That remains the obstacle between Norris and greatness. Can he address it in time? Yes, most probably. But he not only needs the right person in his ear, but he also has to acknowledge that there is a shortcoming in his driving. The good news is that Norris has always been a self-critical driver, and with much of the championship still ahead, there is more than enough time for him to step up in a moment that could define his entire career. – Written earlier in 2025, in this column.
To say that Lando Norris has turned things around from the midway point of this season would not only be an understatement but somewhat of an injustice to the monumental accomplishment of winning the Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship. Put into numbers, there have been more than 780 drivers in F1, and only 35 of them have become World Champions. And what is even more striking is the manner in which Norris achieved this monumental feat.
Lando Norris is a driver who has always worn his heart on his sleeve, embracing his vulnerability. Through this, he has never shied away from his struggles and, through facing his fragility, has shown that, even at the highest level, strength can be defined in many different ways. What is special about this is that it obliterates the myth that being strong means never struggling and never acknowledging these struggles. For an elite athlete, at the very pinnacle of sporting achievement, Norris has demonstrated a rare kind of courage, instead of pretending to be invincible. By doing so, he has demonstrated his and F1’s, to some degree, humanity. He is unquestionably a fantastic driver whose sincerity has genuinely elevated the sport.
In 2019, a nineteen-year-old Lando Norris joined Formula 1. He became known as ‘Last-Lap-Lando’ for dragging the McLaren into positions where it had no business being. His talent, from very early on, was unmistakable. McLaren, though, was in their own building phase. Living in the moment of the 2025 season sometimes easy to forget that less than three years ago, this team was finishing nearly last. Although Norris is the final link in the chain, he made it abundantly and repeatedly clear that winning the title was a result of the work and input and sacrifice of many people.
In February of 2022, Norris signed a multi-year contract to stay with McLaren. To many, it didn’t make sense. McLaren was struggling on the fringes of the top ten, at best, without seemingly any possibility of competing for wins, much less titles. But in 2024 it came good. Norris won his first race in Miami, and McLaren, from the deepest of doldrums in the mid-2010s, rose to win the Constructor’s championship at the end of the season.
There were many moments throughout the 2025 season where and when Lando Norris showed his epic pace, but none stand out more than his drive at this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. At the start, he dropped to P5 and Charles Leclerc’s pace, for most of the race, seemed to be too much for the McLaren. But he bided his time and kept his own pace up. While teammate Oscar Piastri opted for a two-stopper, a popular and winning strategy in Hungary over the last several years, Norris stayed out. Through seemingly sheer determination, some tyre whispering, and phenomenal pace, Norris held off a hard-charging Piastri to win the race. Under extreme pressure, he not only won the race by less than seven-tenths of a second but showed, for all to see, his grit and ability to win when seemingly everything says that you shouldn’t or can’t. It was a startling and telling revelation that Lando Norris was ready.
The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix may not have been the most exciting, but it was by far the tensest race of the season. Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri did all they could to take the title, but there was an unquestionable air of determination, calm, and competence about Norris. He scythed through traffic and saw off a diabolically pitiful move from Tsunoda to drive him off the road. Added to this was extreme pressure applied by Charles Leclerc for the majority of the race. Norris came through all of it with flying colours.
In the storied history of Formula 1 racing, only 35 drivers have become World Champions. Lando Norris is the latest to add his name to this immortal list, and he has done so not loudly, not aggressively, but in a manner that not only underlines his extraordinary talent but also illuminates humanity in a world that so sorely needs it.
