Norris Extends Qualifying Streak After Clinching 2025 F1 Title

Lando Norris capped off his 2025 World Drivers' Championship victory by extending his remarkable streak of outqualifying his teammates in every season of his F1 career. The McLaren driver secured the title by just two points over Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while also maintaining his perfect qualifying head-to-head record against all his teammates to date.

Why it matters:

Norris's ability to consistently outperform highly-rated teammates like Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, and Oscar Piastri underscores his elite status as one of F1's premier qualifiers. This consistency, combined with his race-craft that delivered a championship, solidifies his position as a complete driver and a formidable force for McLaren's future title defenses.

By the numbers:

Norris's qualifying dominance is a consistent theme throughout his career, with varying margins of superiority against each teammate.

• vs Carlos Sainz (2019-2020): Norris narrowly edged out Sainz in their two seasons together, with records of 11-10 in 2019 and 9-8 in 2020.
• vs Daniel Ricciardo (2021-2022): The gap widened significantly against the Australian veteran. Norris outqualified him 15-7 in 2021 and then delivered a near-perfect 20-2 scoreline in 2022, one of the most dominant single-season performances in recent memory.
• vs Oscar Piastri (2023-2025): After two seasons of clear dominance (15-7 in 2023 and 20-4 in 2024), Piastri mounted a much stronger challenge in 2025. However, Norris still prevailed, closing out his title-winning year with a 13-11 qualifying advantage.

Looking Ahead:

While Norris celebrated his championship, the financial realities of success were also confirmed. Both he and Max Verstappen will each pay over a million euros for their 2026 FIA Super Licenses, a cost calculated based on the championship points they scored. As Norris transitions from challenger to champion, all eyes will be on whether he can maintain his qualifying supremacy and convert it into a successful title defense in 2026.