Lando Norris managed to beat rivals Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to world championship glory last Sunday at Abu Dhabi, and became a World Champion with McLaren. Hamilton was the last champion with McLaren in 2008, and there are some similarities and coincidences with both of their championship wins at McLaren.

Hamilton won his first championship in just his second season in Formula 1, taking five Grand Prix victories in 2008, which came in Australia, Monaco, Britain, Germany and China. In comparison, Norris claimed victory during his title-winning 2025 season on seven different occasions. However, it must be noted that in 2008, there were just 18 races, in comparison to the 24 races that were held in 2025, therefore increasing Norris' chances to win races.

However, looking into win percentages, Norris was able to hold a 29.17% win rate, compared to Hamilton's 27.78% win percentage.

Both Hamilton and Norris managed to secure seven pole positions each in their respective championship winning seasons, indicating strong pace. Although, as previously mentioned, Hamilton was therefore able to secure pole for over one third of the season, whereas Norris was able to secure pole for just under one third of the season.

Hamilton claimed 10 podium finishes in 2008 from 18 Grands Prix, with half of his podiums also counting as wins. Norris, on the other hand, claimed 17 podium finishes from 24 Grands Prix. Therefore, the pair of them both missed out on scoring a podium at eight races in their title-winning seasons.

Both Hamilton and Norris were also forced to retire from the Canadian Grand Prix during their championship-winning season. Hamilton retired after a pit lane crash with Kimi Raikkonen, running into the back of the Finn in the pit lane. Interestingly, Norris also retired from the Canadian Grand Prix after running into the back of team-mate Oscar Piastri down the front straight, with Norris' MCL39 scraping the pit wall.

Hamilton was battling up against Brazil's Felipe Massa for the world championship, with Massa actually crossing the line in first place at the Brazilian Grand Prix as world champion, for 39 seconds, before Hamilton overtook Timo Glock on the final lap to steal the crown from Massa.

Therefore, at the title-deciding final race, both of their main competitors, in Massa and Max Verstappen, won the Grand Prix. However, with both Hamilton and Norris holding a significant points advantage over their rivals, the pair of them only needed to finish 5th and 3rd respectively, to clinch their championships.

Hamilton ultimately won the 2008 championship by just a single point, whereas Norris was able to beat Verstappen by two points. Although, the points system operated differently in 2008, with the winner only receiving 10 championship points, and the top eight being the only ones to score points as well.

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