Champion Norris leads the way, as F1 gets set to power into a new era

Lando Norris stepped up as a first-time world champion in 2025 to end Max Verstappen's four-year reign and lead Formula One into a new era.

Whether the McLaren driver can do it again remains the big question.

The title did not come easy to the 26-year-old as he made his dream come true in a roller-coaster season of highs and lows, the wins also accompanied by mistakes and misfortune in a thrilling three-way battle.

Even as the Briton celebrated beating Red Bull's Verstappen by two points, and Australian teammate Oscar Piastri by 13, Norris recognized it could be a one-off.

Formula One, set to expand to 11 teams with the arrival of Cadillac, is facing a major reset next year with a new generation of engines and the sport's biggest technical upheaval in decades.

The usual suspects are likely to stay competitive, but nobody really knows who will be ahead in 2026.

Title double

"It could be my only opportunity in my life that I get to do such a thing," Norris said of putting the champion's No 1 on his car next season.

"I have a lot of faith in my team and we've achieved a lot in the last few years together. And I'm confident we will achieve a lot more together. But Formula One is unpredictable. You never know how much things can change. You never know what can happen."

McLaren has won two constructors' crowns on the trot and, this year, sealed the team and driver's title double for the first time since 1998.

While Norris and Piastri were the only ones to lead the standings, and the Briton was a deserving champion, Verstappen provided some of the standout moments with one of the greatest comebacks in the sport's 75-year history.

"Championships are important, but they do not tell the whole story. Sometimes the best driver does not win the title," observed Damon Hill, who dethroned Ferrari great Michael Schumacher to take the 1996 crown.

Verstappen was, at times, in a league of his own against a backdrop of upheaval at Red Bull, which fired team principal Christian Horner in July and said farewell to consultant Helmut Marko in December.

The Dutch driver went from 104 points behind Piastri at the end of August to 11 ahead at the final flag, and said it was probably the best he had driven in Formula One — quite a statement from someone who won a record 19 of 22 races in 2023.