The Formula 1 edit

Article by Finley Ever

“Lando Norris, is this the Championship Hotline?” Indeed it is, Zak Brown! McLaren driver Lando Norris may not have won the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but he just needed to be on the podium to secure his first WDC title. Well, he finished third! After a season-long battle between his teammate Oscar Piastri, 4-time World Champion Max Verstappen, and himself, Lando Norris becomes the 35th driver to take home a Championship trophy.

The 26-year-old Briton only won his first race last year in Miami, so turning that singular Grand Prix win into a Championship the next year is beyond legendary! Having a three-way title fight for majority of the year, Lando being the one to win was no easy task! Let’s take a look at his overall performance and finishing positions this year.

Lando’s finishing positions

Melbourne, Australia, March 16th: P1

Shanghai, China, March 23rd: P2

Suzuka, Japan, April 6th: P2

Sakhir, Bahrain, April 13th: P3

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 20th: P4

Miami, USA, May 4th: P2

Emilia Romagna, Italy, May 18th: P2

Monaco, May 25th: P1

Barcelona, Spain, June 1st: P2

Montreal, Canada, June 15th: DNF

Spielberg, Austria, June 29th: P1

Silverstone, Great Britain, July 6th: P1

Spa, Belgium, July 27th: P2

Budapest, Hungary, August 3rd: P1

Zandvoort, Netherlands, August 31st: DNF

Monza, Italy, September 7th: P2

Baku, Azerbaijan, September 21st: P7

Singapore, October 5th: P3

Austin, USA, October 19th: P2

Mexico City, Mexico, October 26th: P1

Sao Paolo, Brazil, November 9th: P1

Las Vegas, USA, November 22nd: DSQ

Lusail, Qatar, November 30th: P4

Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, December 7th: P3

realization and the podium

After a very stressful race for Lando involving an almost-penalty with Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda, he was able to secure P3. Team congratulations began flooding in through a very emotional Lando’s team radio. “I’m not crying!” Lando stated. A child’s dream just came true, so tears were understandable! After praise from his fellow drivers, Lando was told that he wasn’t allowed to do any donuts, a tradition in Abu Dhabi for the Champion. He obliged, but it soon became evidently clear that he wasn’t planning on following team orders! Some well-deserved donuts on the track sent fans into a cheering frenzy. After hopping out of the car and throwing some air punches at the audience, Lando was greeted by a flood of happy team members, family, and friends. With hugs and kisses from Mum, Dad, and girlfriend Magui Corceiro, claps on the back from everyone wearing Papaya colored outfits, and a playful shove turned hug by old teammate Carlos Sainz, Lando is nowhere near short on support and people happy for him!

After hearing the Dutch national anthem for the winner, Max Verstappen, champagne mingled with Lando’s tears. Everyone left the elevated podium except for Lando, who decided to stick around and soak up the moment. He blew kisses into the audience and flashed joyous grins, but the highlight was him setting down his trophy to lead the fans in an orchestra of screams, all directed by him throwing more punches into the air while “We are the Champions” by Queen blasted on the speakers. Pure Cinema.

driver’s online reactions

When Lando posted his pictures with his World Champion hat, 60,000 fans commented, but the ones we will talk about are Lando’s fellow drivers.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon commented “Mega job mate well deserved. Enjoy the celebrations!!”

George Russell congratulated his fellow Brit with a simple “Congrats Mate!!!”

Retired Red Bull driver who will return to the grid next year with Cadillac, Checo Perez, commented “Bravo Lando!”

2025 rookie Franco Colapinto showed his support by commenting “LEGEND congrats mate enjoyyyyyyyy”

Another rookie, Oliver Bearman, commented “Congratulations!”

While many drivers, teams, and team principals let Lando know they were happy for him, the most noticeable comment was from Lando’s teammate, Oscar Piastri, who’s comment amassed a number of 188,000 likes. He simply commented “Congratulations” No punctuation and no further wording. His comment makes perfect sense, because he was in the lead for the WDC for a large amount of the season and still in contention up until Abu Dhabi in which he finished 2nd. Only joining the sport in 2023, his time will surely come!

Ln4—Ln1

Now that Lando is reigning World Champion, the race number 1 is up for grabs! Even though Lando has created quite the name and brand for himself with ‘LN4’, he decided that he isn’t sure if this opportunity will ever come up again, so he’s seizing it and will race with the Number 1 for the 2026 season. Max Verstappen, the previous occupant of the Number 1, is set to race with the number 3 next year, an ode to his retired teammate, Daniel Riccardo, who raced with the number 3 before retiring last year.

Lando Norris, you are the World Champion! What an absolutely astounding season for him! And a wonderful drive from second and third, Max and Oscar! With pre-season testing in February, we won’t have to wait long until we see our Champion back in his Papaya car, now with the number 1 proudly displayed on his helmet!

xx