Lando Norris (McLaren) turns 27: From GP victory to birthday party

Happy birthday, Lando Norris! The 2025 Formula 1 World Champion turned 27 on 13 November 2026.

Let’s take a brief look back to mark the occasion: the young Briton, born in Bristol, England, first appeared on Formula 1’s radar on 26 August 2018 at the latest, when Norris made his debut in an F1 car at a Formula 1 race weekend. Norris took part in his first Friday practice session at Spa-Francorchamps. A fitting venue for his debut: Lando’s mother, Cisca Norris, was born in Belgium, and he holds Belgian citizenship as well as British.

Norris was already driving for McLaren in 2018 and has never driven any other F1 car since. It was to be a long and successful partnership; the contract between the two runs until at least 2030. As Formula 2 runner-up (beaten only by George Russell), Norris made his Formula 1 debut in Melbourne in 2019. Expectations were high for the young Briton with the broad grin on his face (though he was still considerably slimmer back then): in 2014, he became the youngest driver ever to win the Karting World Championship, and in 2017 he won the Formula 3 championship.

Lando Norris bei seinem F1-Debüt 2019 in Australien

Foto: XPB Images

Norris had to be patient before securing his first Formula 1 victory: it wasn’t until 2024 that he finally achieved it on his favourite circuit in Miami. After that, however, the wins came thick and fast. As of his 27th birthday, Norris has competed in 179 Grands Prix – all for McLaren – and secured 14 victories. He celebrated seven of these during his 2025 World Championship-winning season. And the most recent one on Sunday in São Paulo.

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Lando Norris mit WM-Pokal

Foto: FIA

Although he’s incredibly quick on the racetrack, Norris can also be quite calm and relaxed. He’s passionate about golf (for example, he played on the day after his first GP victory at the legendary course in Augusta), streams whilst gaming, and he also loves music. Shortly before his birthday, he released a playlist.

Formula 1 fans know that Norris knows how to party! On the podium, he traditionally opens his bottles of champagne by smashing them on the ground. Sometimes the bottle (as happened recently in Brazil) or a trophy (Hungary 2023) gets smashed in the process. But never mind – the now 27-year-old isn’t going to let that slow him down. Conveniently, ahead of the final triple-header starting next week, Norris has a race-free birthday weekend before he can fight for the runners-up spot in the World Championship in the last three races. Let’s hope his birthday champagne doesn’t shatter today. Cheers, Lando!