Lando Norris’ coronation under the Abu Dhabi floodlights felt less like the closing act of a long season and more like the first tremor of Formula One’s next seismic shift.
The 26-year-old Briton’s maiden world championship, secured with a third-place finish at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, did more than end Max Verstappen’s four-year monopoly on the drivers' title. It signalled a shift in culture, equality and, in Norris’s own words, “being a good person”.
Can Norris continue doing it his way?
In the style that has come to define McLaren’s resurgence, Norris refused to conform to the darker arts that previous champions employed. There was no elbows-out brinkmanship, no shadowy influence play in the paddock, no attempt to mimic Verstappen’s once-feared killer instinct.
Instead, even under the unrelenting pressure of a three-way fight for the title, he leaned into humility and harmony – the papaya way.
"I feel like I have managed to win it the way I wanted to win it, which was not by being someone I'm not," he said. "Not trying to be as aggressive as Max or as forceful as other champions might have been in the past – whatever it may be.
"My style [is] of just trying to be a good person and a good team member."
That ethos has rebalanced a paddock once defined by aggression. Christian Horner’s departure from Red Bull earlier in the season eased long-standing tensions, while even Verstappen himself mellowed.
Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri, so often frustrated by misfortune, became the quiet enforcer of McLaren’s equality rulebook. It was, in many ways, a triumph of culture over chaos.
Mercedes favoured to be strong with new engine
Formula One is braced for its most dramatic reset in a generation. The 2026 regulations promise lighter, narrower, more agile cars and a hybrid formula designed to reshape the pecking order. And nowhere is anticipation more feverish than Brackley, where Mercedes – invigorated by a clean-sheet power unit – are tipped to regain their old authority.
Rivals privately believe the new engine places Mercedes half a step ahead heading into pre-season, and with Kimi Antonelli’s rookie promise sharpening alongside George Russell, the Silver Arrows may be poised for a return to challenge for both the drivers' and constructors' championships. Their power units will also sit behind McLaren, Williams and Alpine machinery, potentially pulling a large part of the grid in their slipstream.
Ferrari, meanwhile, face a winter of reckoning. Lewis Hamilton’s move to Maranello was supposed to restore the Scuderia’s lustre, yet his first campaign was nothing short of a disaster: no wins, no podiums, and no encouraging signs that either will change. Even for a team accustomed to scrutiny, the pressure is suffocating.
Audi hope to join as serious contenders
Further back, Audi – the team formerly known as Sauber – hope that one podium and 70 points in 2025 are only the first steps of a long climb. With Nico Hulkenberg’s experience paired with Gabriel Bortoleto’s raw speed, their aim is to become the new force of the midfield. Cadillac’s arrival, backed by GM dollars and with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez at the helm, brings another layer of intrigue.
Then there is Red Bull, entering a post-Horner world with Verstappen partnered by the precocious Isack Hadjar. The promoted Frenchman’s rookie heroics earned him the nod ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, while 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad joins Racing Bulls alongside Liam Lawson.
It all sets the stage for a season where nothing – not even the established truths of the Verstappen era – can be taken for granted. What Norris proved on Sunday is that F1’s future might belong not to the loudest or the hardest, but to the most assured.
