Norris admits he’s ‘still trying to accept’ World Champion status as he gears up for 2026 title defence

Lando Norris has conceded that he is still yet to fully process becoming F1 World Champion for the first time, with only a few months passing between last year’s Abu Dhabi finale and the start of the 2026 pre-season.

Norris, who beat Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri to the 2025 crown, was back in action with the number 1 on his car – and a huge smile on his face – at last week’s Barcelona Shakedown.

Asked at the gathering how he’s approaching the new season, Norris said: “I’m excited for everything! Do I wish I had one more month to lay back and enjoy everything, take everything in? It was a few weeks off of just trying to realise what happened last year. It had become a reality, my dream.

“I think I’m still even now trying to just accept it, and to realise that it’s happened. At the same time, it’s back to work, and now we’ve got to try and do it all over again.

"It makes me happy, it gives me good confidence coming into this season, but it’s such a different, such a big challenge with all the regulations, all the changes this year.

“I feel good. I’m happy. I’ve accomplished something huge in my life.”

In terms of getting back to work for 2026, and F1’s all-new era of regulations, Norris was pleased with his and McLaren’s three-day programme at the Barcelona Shakedown, where the MCL40 racked up a healthy number of laps.

“It’s so easy to get caught up into comparisons, just because we’re all competitive so you always want to see yourself doing well and feeling like you can be quick, but I think we understood a lot, both in lower-fuel stuff, higher-fuel stuff, the tyres,” the Briton said on the final day.

“Just what we came here to do, really, [which] is to understand the car, especially from a reliability point of view – make sure that all the sensors are working as they should, the PU’s working as it should, the gearbox, whatever it is.

“[Making sure] everything is just doing what we expect, because reliability is one of the most important things, so a lot of it’s from that side, and a lot of it is stuff over the next few days and weeks the team will look into and try to improve on and make better.

“And from my side, just to get back comfy with the car, some little bits I need to change here and there, but otherwise it still feels like a race car, still feels fast and still enjoyable.”

Norris and the rest of the F1 field – including Williams, after they missed the Shakedown – will be back in action in Bahrain next week, when the first of two official pre-season tests at the Sakhir venue gets under way.