Lando Norris becomes the 35th Formula One World Champion
By Jade Miller, February 25 2026—
On Sunday Dec. 7th, Lando Norris clinched the Formula One World Championship title in Abu Dhabi over teammate Oscar Piastri and four-time championship winner Max Verstappen by just two points. The season was hard fought between the three drivers, but it all came down to one final race to decide the World Champion.
At the start of the season, both McLarens started off strong, demonstrating the MCL39s performance on track. Various news sources were confident in Norris’ chances at the title and said that he was “the kid to keep an eye out for.” Throughout the first few races the Briton dominated, leading the championship just as predicted. Until round five at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where, after a tough battle, Oscar Piastri came out on top and took the number one spot in the championship away from Norris as Norris finished the race at P4. Piastri led the championship for nearly the whole season after that, showing strength and consistency in every race. The battle between the two drivers accumulated so many points, that by round eighteen (Singapore GP), McLaren won the Constructors championship for the second year in a row.
. The rivalry between the two McLarens heated up in round twenty at the Mexican GP where Norris took P1 and defeated Piastri who finished at P5, taking the championship spot back. Meanwhile, behind the battling McLarens, Max Verstappen was fighting his own battle to make sure he was in contention for the title. After finishing in low positions and a DNF, he had to put the work in. Verstappen made a comeback around round fifteen, finishing second after a ninth-place finish in the previous round. Verstappen consistently stayed in contention until the end of the season, placing him in the fight for the title with the McLarens.
The battle was hard fought, tensions were high amongst Red Bull and McLaren fans. The teams worked hard, trying to make strategies work in different weather conditions. Then a twist happened in Las Vegas – both McLarens were disqualified. For Red Bull fans, this was the best thing to happen to them near the end of the season. The reality of Verstappen winning a fifth title had fans elated – but McLaren was not going to give up.
The last two races had everyone on the edge of their seats as the championship clinching scenario was decided: Lando Norris needed to win in Qatar. Qatar comes, and Norris finishes fourth, Piastri second and Verstappen first. The fight was not over. It all came down to the last race: Adu Dhabi. The most infamously rich race of all twenty-four rounds. The race was tense, teams were trying to hold the Papaya McLaren of Norris back, putting on their best races yet. On lap twenty-three, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, the teammate of Max Verstappen, was told to delay Norris from getting to the front of the pack. Tsunoda responded to the message “I know what I’m doing,” but, unfortunately Tsunoda’s strategy fell short when he was handed a five-second penalty for making more than one change of direction and forcing another driver off track.
Norris made his way through the pack behind Piastri and Verstappen, the remaining thirty-five laps were battled hard. Pushing the tires as hard as they could go, just to make sure Norris stayed in the top three. He did just that – Lando Norris placed third in Abu Dhabi, clinching the world title by just two points ahead of Max Verstappen. Becoming the thirty-fifth Formula One World Champion, and only the fourth driver to change their number to one since it was reintroduced into Formula One. The number that is reserved for World Champions.