As the new world champion, Lando Norris was given the choice: keep his original starting number 4, or drive with the coveted number 1 in 2026. The Briton chose starting number 1. This means that the number 1 can be seen on a McLaren car for the first time since 2010. For Norris himself, driving with that number still feels somewhat unreal, he says in conversation with F1 after the Wednesday sessions.
“It’s really special. I saw it before on the timing boards, and it’s still incredible, really crazy. It’s still a strange feeling, especially now that I’m actually seeing it for the first time: on my racing suit, on the car, on the timing boards… everything together. And it looks good. It still feels a bit surreal, the whole idea of being a champion,” Norris admits.
“But nothing else changes, except that I am now at the top of the timing boards before we even go on the track, because I have the lowest number. Of course this brings extra pressure, but at the same time it’s just cool. It’s great for the mechanics, for everyone to have that feeling and that honor. It’s still hard work: driving a lot of laps, giving everything. But it’s nice to know that I now carry that number with me.”
Realization of the world champion
Norris is therefore looking forward to the coming season with enthusiasm, despite the short winter break. “I’m actually looking forward to everything! Of course I would have liked an extra month of rest so that I could have let everything sink in. It was just a few weeks off; it didn’t even feel like a full month. Just a few weeks to realize what has happened over the past year and that it has really become reality, my dream.”
The Brit still has to pinch himself every now and then to realize that it is real: “Even now I still try to accept it and realize that it really happened. At the same time it also means: back to work. Now we have to try to achieve it again.”
“It makes me happy and gives me a lot of confidence for this season. But it is a whole new, big challenge with all the new rules and changes this year. Still, I feel good; I am happy, because I have achieved something huge in my life,” concludes Norris.
