McLaren confirm major Lando Norris change for 2026 as FIA makes it official | F1 | Sport
McLaren have confirmed that Lando Norris will don the number one on his car for the 2026 F1 season after being crowned world champion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix earlier this month. The FIA released their season entry list on Friday, confirming the switch from the 26-year-old’s number four.
Since F1 introduced the option for drivers to choose their own numbers in 2014, the number one car has only been available to the reigning world champion. Lewis Hamilton opted to stick with his No.44, while Nico Rosberg retired after winning his title in 2016.
Max Verstappen became the first driver to deploy the number after beating Hamilton to the crown in 2021, but after enjoying four years as the reigning world champion, the Dutchman was forced to hand over the number one to McLaren’s star driver.
Confirming his intent to take the number one, Norris told Sky Sports News: “It’s tradition, it’s there for a reason. It’s there because you can go and try grab it, and you can work hard to try and get it. 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, that 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!”
Norris isn’t the only driver taking a new number in 2025. Rather than return to his classic No.33 after giving up the number one, Verstappen will take the No.3, which was most recently used by Daniel Ricciardo before the Australian confirmed his retirement from the sport earlier this year.
Speaking to Viaplay about his decision, the 28-year-old explained: “It won’t be number 33. My favourite number has always been three, apart from number one. We can now swap, so it’ll be number three. Number 33 was always fine, but I just like one three better than two. I always said it represented double luck, but I’ve already had my luck in Formula One.”
There will be one more new number on the grid in 2026 as Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad joins the F1 ranks. The 18-year-old Brit will drive under the No.41 as he teams up with Liam Lawson at the Faenza-based squad.
