Lando Norris

Lando Norris may not be named after Star Wars rebel Lando Calrissian - his Mum just liked the moniker - but the 2025 World Champion has flair and fighting spirit in bountiful supply.

McLaren had the British teenager on their books for two years before fast-tracking him into F1’s galaxy of stars in 2019. A firecracker in his junior career, with a penchant for pole positions and wheel-to-wheel tussles, Norris didn’t let them down.

Paired with the highly-rated – and far more experienced – Carlos Sainz, his rookie season was impressive, Norris edging the Spaniard in their head-to-head qualifying battle, scoring points 11 times, and only narrowly missing out on a top-10 championship placing.

A maiden podium came in 2020, with more following in the subsequent two seasons – he narrowly missed out on a win at Russia 2021 – as he dominated another more senior team mate, Daniel Ricciardo, to firmly establish himself in F1’s top tier.

It was the 2024 season that finally brought Norris his breakthrough win – along with three more – as he became the biggest challenger to Max Verstappen’s drivers’ crown and led McLaren to their first constructors’ title since 1998.

He went one better the following year, winning seven times and proving wrong those who doubted his mental strength by staging a late-season comeback to overhaul a 34-point standings deficit and beat Verstappen and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri to the Drivers' Championship.

Away from the track, Norris brims with a modest charm and an artistic side sees him design and paint his own race gear as a hobby. The focus for the future is allying artistry and ambition on track, as McLaren rely on him to help keep them on top for 2026's era of new technical regulations.Norris hopes the downforce will be with him…

Oscar Piastri

Born in Melbourne, just a stone’s throw away from the Australian Grand Prix venue, a young Oscar Piastri’s dreams of one day racing in Formula 1 were ignited by the sport’s star drivers roaring around his local streets, otherwise known as Albert Park.

But it would take huge commitment and sacrifice to turn that dream into a reality, with a move to Europe – made by the likes of fellow countrymen Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo before him – the only way to go up against the best and catch the attention of the sport’s decision-makers.

Using success on the Australian karting scene as a springboard, Piastri continued to learn the craft in championships across Europe, before getting his first taste of single-seater competition as a 15-year-old – two podium finishes in F4 UAE a sign of things to come.

From there, success flowed. British F4 runner-up. Formula Renault champion. F3 champion. F2 champion (by more than 50 points). Piastri did not simply climb the junior single-seater ladder, he charged up it to knock loudly on the F1 door.

So impressive was Piastri that two F1 teams squabbled over his services for 2023, adding a new dimension to the driver market and so-called ‘silly season’. McLaren, and not long-time backers Alpine, won out and their rookie repaid them in spades, taking two podiums in a highly impressive debut campaign.

It was no flash in the pan. In 2024 Piastri proved vital in McLaren securing their first constructors' title since 1998, pushing more experienced team mate Lando Norris all the way and scoring Grand Prix wins in Hungary and Azerbaijan to finish fourth in the driver standings.

The upward trajectory continued in 2025, Piastri emerging as a genuine title contender in only his third year of F1 competition. He led the standings for much of the campaign, winning seven Grands Prix, before a late-season lull left him trailing team mate Norris – to whom he lost out in a three-way title decider at the Abu Dhabi finale.

No wonder few in the paddock – particularly those at McLaren – consider the young Melburnian a World Champion in the making.