Lando Norris is listed as the reigning World Drivers’ Champion entering the 2026 Formula One season.
Norris won his first Formula One Drivers’ Championship in 2025 while racing for McLaren. He finished third at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a result that was enough to secure the title by two points over Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri, Norris’s McLaren teammate, finished third in the championship.
The achievement made Norris the first McLaren Drivers’ Champion since Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 title. It also ended Verstappen’s run of four consecutive championships, which had begun in 2021.
Norris had already become a race winner before claiming the crown, taking his maiden Grand Prix victory at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. His 2025 title was therefore the culmination of several seasons of progress rather than a sudden arrival at the front.