Lando Norris vows to stay the same after dramatic title win

14:03, 24 Jan

byShayni Solanki

Lando Norris believes that he has not changed since becoming a Formula 1 World Champion, and shares that he only feels "different" during F1 events.

The 2025 champion shared that during his personal life, he does not feel like things have changed since becoming a world champion, but it is only in the F1 scene that he can feel the difference.

Norris clinched his first championship last year with a dramatic podium finish at the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating out Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to become the 35th F1 World Champion.

"I'm the same me, and I'll keep doing the same things."

- Lando Norris

At the Autosport Awards, Norris said: "It hasn't changed. Honestly, when I go home and I wake up, I still feel the same.

"It's just when I come to an event, or I'm with the team, and I see the car have a number one on for the first time, those are the moments.

"It just makes me smile a bit more, and it's something to look back on in many years to continue to always celebrate.

"It's a world championship, but otherwise it hasn't. I'm the same me, and I'll keep doing the same things."

McLaren is set to reveal their 2026 contender on 9 February, the second-to-last team to launch their car for the season.

The championship-winning team will be hoping to clinch a third consecutive Constructors' Title this year after dominating the 2025 season.

This new set of regulation changes will shake up the grid, with McLaren revealing that the British team will be open-minded during the early stages of the season.

Chief Designer Rob Marshall said at the McLaren Technology Centre: "Between Barcelona and Melbourne, I think what you see is probably pretty much what we'll bring to the first race.

"A lot of our effort will be into understanding this. Also, we need to take into account what the opposition is up to. We need to be inspired by what they may or may not achieve and may or may not show us."

"We really are going to have to be very focused on getting our heads around this car. It's very complicated. It's all new.

"There's a lot of stuff that we need to dial in and tune in. So I think bringing a lot of new stuff to it, early doors, would complicate stuff.

"And I think we're better off understanding our platform before we get too keen on redesigning it before it's turned a wheel."

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