Lando Norris has confirmed he will take over car number one from Max Verstappen in 2026 after winning the Formula One Drivers' Championship for the first time.

Norris edged out Verstappen by just two points in the final 2025 standings, having secured the necessary third-placed finish at Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Seven of the last 12 F1 campaigns have ended with a British driver being crowned world champion, with Lewis Hamilton triumphing six times in that span.

Following each of his title wins with Mercedes, Hamilton neglected to take up the number one – usually reserved for the champion – and instead kept his iconic number 44.

But Norris will take over Verstappen's number next year, dedicating the honour to everyone in McLaren's backroom team. 

"It's tradition. It is there for a reason," he told Sky Sports F1. "It is there because you can go and try grab it, and you can work hard to try and get it.

Lando Norris will run with car number 1 in 2026! #F1 pic.twitter.com/u9OE4Ibjaq

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 8, 2025

"All of us as a team that gets to have a role in McLaren, or my car, will get to wear that with pride. 

"It's all my mechanics, my engineers, everyone that's part of McLaren gets to have that acknowledgement too.

"So it's not for me, it's for them as well. It's their pride, knowing that they put a lot of work and effort into everything, so they can also go, 'we're number one'. 

"It's not as cool when you say, 'we are number four', so they will be even happier than I am!"

Verstappen drove as number 33 prior to winning his first title in 2022, with his favourite number – three – being used by Daniel Ricciardo at the time.