At the Autosport Awards, newly crowned Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris looked back on a 2013 encounter with racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, who foresaw his potential for greatness. The McLaren driver clinched the title with a third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, capping a season of intense competition against Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris now faces the challenge of proving his success is no fluke.
Lando Norris, stepping onto the red carpet at the Autosport Awards dressed formally, celebrated his first Formula 1 world championship by reminiscing about a pivotal moment from a decade earlier. In 2013, as a young junior racer, Norris stood alongside Sir Jackie Stewart, the three-time F1 champion, who expressed belief that the Briton could one day join the elite winner's circle.
"I mean, it’s crazy," Norris said, recounting how he viewed a photo of that meeting en route to the event. "I actually, in the car here, I looked at the picture of me and Jackie back then," he added with a grin, "I’ve grown a bit more than what Jackie has."
Reflecting on the long journey, Norris noted the distance to his goals at the time. "I don’t know. I think then it’s so far away. Like F1 was, what, seven years away from there? And a world championship was what, like 12 years away from that?" He credited persistence for his achievement: "So I just keep trying, keep believing... keep your head down, keep working hard and hope that it pays off."
Norris's path to the title, since debuting in F1 with McLaren in 2019, involved battling four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing and his own teammate Oscar Piastri. Despite Verstappen's late-season surge, Norris maintained consistency in his competitive McLaren machinery, steadily accumulating points with composure.
His championship was sealed with a podium finish—third place—at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Looking ahead, Norris expressed motivation for the defense: "I have something to fight for, you know? To try and maintain my championship and maintain the number that I'm gonna have this year." This resolve underscores the pressure to repeat success in the high-stakes world of Formula 1.
