Drivers

Who is Lando Norris beyond F1? The world he's earning

By Kavi Khandelwal

From impostor syndrome to TIME 100 — Lando Norris is a world champion who won it his way, and the world is only beginning to understand what that means.

The chequered flag at Abu Dhabi was the end of a chapter, but it wasn't the end of the story. For Lando Norris, the months that have followed his 2025 Formula One World Championship have been a quiet, consistent reminder that what he built last season was never just about the title. It was about what he stands for, and how far that reaches beyond the paddock. In the weeks since, the world has been recognising it.

The Autosport Champion

The first recognition of the year came in January, on home soil, at the Roundhouse in London. At the Autosport Awards, Norris received the inaugural Autosport Champion award — a recognition that celebrates his rise from winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award back in 2016 to becoming Drivers' World Champion in 2025. The full circle of that moment is hard to overstate. In 2016, a 16-year-old Norris stood on that same stage as the recipient of the Young Driver award — one of the youngest finalists in the award's history. He is only the second Young Driver winner to take the F1 title, after Jenson Button. The inaugural Autosport Champion award was created because his career arc demanded something new to capture it. That a trophy had to be invented for him says everything. On the same night, he picked up the fan-voted British Competition Driver of the Year, while McLaren took home Team of the Year and Competition Car of the Year for the MCL39. In his own words: "I'm proud to have been honoured at the Autosport Awards. A big thanks to Autosport for presenting me with their Champion Award and to the fans who voted for me. It was great to celebrate with many of the team too." Reflecting on what he would tell the 16-year-old version of himself who had stood in that same room a decade earlier, Norris said: "Just to enjoy every moment. In racing the years can go by quick, especially when you're moving up through the categories with the goal to get to F1. It's something I've gotten much better at as I've gotten older, but I do wish I was able to enjoy those moments in the journey a little bit more when I was younger."

The Innovator – TIME Magazine

Norris was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world for 2026, the only F1 driver on the list, and one of just six athletes recognised this year. He was placed in the "Innovators" category — a deliberate distinction that says something about how the world is now choosing to see him. Not just as a racing driver. As someone who is changing what it looks like to be at the top. The tribute for his entry was written by Paris Hilton, and it is worth sitting with what she chose to say about him. She described him as someone who is talented, but noted that what sets him apart is being kind, genuine, and down-to-earth, adding that even under the pressure of the spotlight, he stays grounded — something she called rare. She also wrote that she has seen him with fans at races and that the connection he makes with them is something you can tell truly means something to him. She closed with this: that she loves that he is inspiring so many people by showing that you can work hard, reach the top, and still stay completely true to yourself. That line is the whole thesis of Norris' career. He didn't just prove it in Abu Dhabi. He's been proving it for years.

The Laureate

Norris is the sixth F1 driver to win the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award and the first since Nico Rosberg in 2017, joining a list that includes Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Daniel Ricciardo. An award previously given to Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Jude Bellingham, and Lamine Yamal. The company he now keeps tells you everything about the scale of what he has achieved. Speaking about what the award means to him, Norris was characteristically honest. "Any opportunity where I go alongside champions from other sports is incredible. I never dreamed of that as a kid. Certain people know when they're a child they're going to be a champion. My mindset was never like that. It was never: 'I'm going to do this.' It was always: 'Can I? Am I able to?' So this is not just a trophy. It's a realisation that my name is alongside incredible people. It's like I'm in their world and that's a beautiful thing." That last line — "I'm in their world" — from the mouth of an F1 World Champion, is the kind of thing that reminds you why so many people chose this driver. He has never once assumed he belonged. He has always had to convince himself, step by step, that he had earned the right to be there. He said that winning the world championship was something he had dreamed about since he was young, and that it was far from an individual achievement — that without his team, he would not be where he is today. And in the same breath, as always: "As always, I must say a big thanks to my whole team, to everyone at McLaren, and to my personal team. Everyone who has been a part of this journey with me also gets to accept this award." McLaren and his personal team in the same sentence. Not an afterthought. Not a formality. A genuine acknowledgement of the full structure of people who built this with him — the engineers and mechanics on one side, and the management team that has guided and protected him on the other. He has always understood that both matter.

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The Work Behind the Win

What makes this accumulation of recognition so meaningful is the context behind it. The 2025 season did not hand Norris a championship on a silver platter. He came from 34 points behind with nine races to go. And the work to get there was not only physical. Norris spoke with real candour about the mental side of the fight. "There are certain people I spoke to last year, when I was struggling. Top athletes, some of the best in the world, and I spoke to them about my struggles and what they do in those times. How do they block out the noise and be themselves on the tennis court or golf course, or wherever." He would not name all of them. But he described the period: "It was more like the start, that minimal part of the season when things weren't clicking and I wasn't very comfortable with the car. It was quick and easily good enough to win races. I just couldn't figure it out on my own. That's the way I am — I need help from many different people. But you've then got to go out and do the job yourself. Last year was very special as there are only 35 world champions from Formula One — ever. For me to be added to that list is pretty incredible." One of those people he spoke to was Rory McIlroy. "I've spoken to Rory a couple of times. There are always things you can learn and, when you speak to them, you get to know even more about their mindset." The shared thread between them — two athletes who struggled publicly with self-doubt before arriving at the very top of their sport in the same calendar year — is not lost on Norris. McIlroy's openness about his own battles clearly resonated. "He's always quite open about his struggles and things he's trying when it's not working out. It means even more when you know the athletes." The realisation of what he achieved still catches him off guard in the quietest moments. "I was away last week, with some friends, and at dinner one of them said: 'Do you not find it weird that you're world champion?' It's one of those cool realisations again. I also get the reminder every [race] weekend because I've got the No 1 on my car."

The Mental Game

Norris has been open about his mental health for years, and he did not shy away from it here. He spoke about his first F1 season in 2019, and what that year actually felt like from the inside. "There were lots of doubts: 'Do I deserve to be here? Why am I not as good as these people?' You feel you're wasting people's time… I struggled a lot." That same vulnerability is what made the gestures of that year so remarkable. A struggling 19-year-old, full of impostor syndrome, still found the presence of mind to order 800 personalised water bottles — one for every McLaren employee, regardless of their role. "That was 2019 and a lot still use their water bottle today," he said. "My biggest motivation is always trying to make my team happy, as much as it is to make myself happy and win. There're certainly drivers that don't care about it as much but it's something I've always loved." The roots of that go deeper than performance. "I remember in 2018 [as a test driver] I used to help pack the stuff in the evening with the mechanics. They do more hours than anyone, and get up at 4am." Some of those same mechanics are still with him today. Some of his engineers have been there since his first F1 test in Budapest in 2017. That continuity is not accidental. It is the result of years of genuine investment in the people around him. He spoke about the Laureus award's broader meaning, too. The organisation's focus on sport as a vehicle for community support — "including mental health" — hit differently for him. "When I was younger I never knew I'd have the platform to speak about [mental health]. So to realise the amount I can help other people is special. In the longer term that means more than winning a world championship." That sentence deserves to sit for a moment. More than winning a world championship. From a driver who spent years wondering if he ever would.

The Best Version of Himself

There is a moment Norris described that captures everything about what kind of driver and person he is. His Monaco pole lap in 2025 — the one that broke the circuit record, the one done in under 70 seconds, the one that made the whole world stop. He described it like this: "Qualifying was going pretty poorly and I started to question myself. Have I lost that little edge in qualies? It's always been my biggest strength since I was a kid. Monaco is the hardest, and the one I struggled with since I came into Formula One. You have fear and different challenges. “It's Monaco and an incredibly tricky lap. You have to push past that conscious level. You have to get past thinking: 'I'm going to brake here and do this.' If you want pole, you've got to shut your eyes round the corner and see if you make it to the other side. It was special." That is the Lando Norris no headlines can manufacture. The one who still questions himself before delivering something extraordinary. The one who wins not despite his honesty about doubt, but in some essential way, because of it. When interviewing a driver who has won a World Championship, a Laureus Award, and a place on the TIME 100 — all within months of each other — the story is right in front of you. It always has been. The focus belongs on the person who achieved all of that, on his terms, with the team he has built around him over nearly a decade. There is more than enough in Lando Norris to fill a thousand articles without ever needing to look elsewhere. He won it the way he is. And the world is still catching up to what that means.