LANDO TAKES 1 FOR THE TEAM

Magic number a collective effort says Norris

- BY DANIEL MOXON

NEW world champion Lando Norris will drive with No.1 on his car next season - and it is not just for him.

Driving with No.4, Norris became the 11th Briton to lift the title and will now take No.1 from Max Verstappen, who has been using it since 2022.

Norris said: "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 No.1'. It's not as cool when you say, 'We are No.4' so they will be even happier than I am."

Norris will be the first Brit to race with the No.1 since Jenson Button in 2010. Lewis Hamilton never used it, preferring the No.44 which he had incorporated into his personal brand.