Lando Norris wins 2025 F1 world championship, ending McLaren's 17-year title drought
Lando Norris has become Formula 1's 35th world champion, securing his maiden title with a third-place finish in the season finale. The McLaren driver overcame a mid-season power unit failure and a points deficit to teammate Oscar Piastri to clinch the championship by just two points over Max Verstappen, delivering McLaren its first drivers' crown since 2008.
Lando Norris has won the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship, becoming the 35th driver to claim the title and ending McLaren's 17-year wait for a drivers' crown. He secured the championship by finishing third in the season finale, beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen by a mere two points in the final standings.
Why it matters:
Norris's victory marks a monumental shift in the F1 landscape, breaking the recent dominance of Red Bull and Ferrari and restoring McLaren to the pinnacle of the sport for the first time since Lewis Hamilton's 2008 title. It validates years of rebuilding at McLaren and cements Norris's status as a generational talent, fulfilling the promise he has shown since his debut.
The details:
- The championship battle was intensely intra-team for much of the season, with teammate Oscar Piastri leading the standings after a strong start.
- Norris's campaign faced a critical setback at the Dutch Grand Prix, where a power unit failure forced a retirement and allowed Piastri to build a 34-point lead.
- Norris mounted a remarkable comeback, consistently out-scoring Piastri in the subsequent rounds to seize the championship lead after the Mexico City Grand Prix.
- Entering the final race with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen, Norris only needed a podium finish to secure the title.
- Despite being passed by Piastri on the opening lap, Norris managed his race perfectly, holding off a charging Charles Leclerc to claim the crucial third place and the championship with 423 points to Verstappen's 421.
The big picture:
Norris joins an elite list of British world champions as the 11th from the UK and becomes the eighth driver to win a title with McLaren, following legends like Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, and Lewis Hamilton. His triumph is a story of resilience, overcoming significant mechanical adversity and intense pressure from within his own team and from the reigning champion to claim the ultimate prize.
What's next:
The focus immediately shifts to 2026 and whether McLaren can defend its crown against a surely motivated Red Bull and a resurgent Ferrari. Norris will carry the #1 on his car, a first for him and for McLaren since Hamilton, as the team aims to establish a new era of success. The question now is whether this is the start of a Norris/McLaren dynasty or a single brilliant season in a continuously evolving competitive field.