UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sends message to Lando Norris after WDC victory

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has congratulated Lando Norris on his Formula 1 drivers’ championship victory.

The British driver secured the title after finishing the season finale in Abu Dhabi in third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in second. Norris’s win has drawn a lot of praise from within the F1 paddock but also further afield.

After Norris became the 11th world champion from Great Britain, Starmer posted on social media: “Congratulations, Lando Norris, Britain’s new F1 champion! An unbelievable season and so well deserved.”

Starmer also commented on the championship win during a public event in Surrey on Monday 8 December.

“It’s amazing to be here the day after Lando won yesterday,” he told the crowd. “And I hope you’ve all got a smile on your faces because that interview with him afterwards – which I hope you’ve all seen – very emotional interview with him after he had won…

“But I thought the way in which he wanted to thank the whole of his team was really important because he was emphasising that he’s the person obviously doing the racing but that can’t happen without the whole McLaren team at every level working with him and for him.

“And I hope you felt a bit of pride for him, what he’s achieved, because everything that you all do, all the teamwork you put in is all part of what produces that incredible result – and it was an incredible result. So it’s fantastic to be here today.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Erik Junius

British F1 champions

Norris joins an impressive list of British F1 champions.

Mike Hawthorn: 1958
Graham Hill: 1962, 1968
Jim Clark: 1963, 1965
John Surtees: 1964
Sir Jackie Stewart: 1969, 1971, 1973
James Hunt: 1976
Nigel Mansell: 1992
Damon Hill: 1996
Sir Lewis Hamilton: 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Jenson Button: 2009
Lando Norris: 2025