Lando Norris has been crowned the F1 World Champion of 2025, making him the first McLaren driver to win the title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. This ends an astonishing seventeen-year drought for a team that was once the epitome of dominance.
Hamilton’s first world title in 2008 was one of the most spectacular season finales ever. In the final race at Interlagos, Felipe Massa seemed to have clinched the championship when he won the race, but Hamilton overtook Timo Glock in the very last corner on his dry-weather tyres, securing the crucial fifth place needed for the title. It was a climax for the history books.
The year before, as a rookie alongside Fernando Alonso, Hamilton had almost become champion, but lost by a single point. The pressure in 2008 was immense, but Hamilton clinched the title at the age of 23 with five victories, including a dazzling display on a wet Silverstone.
Long Drought
But why was there such a long silence afterwards? The rule changes for 2009 were disastrous for McLaren. While the team was still competing for titles in 2008, the MP4-24 from 2009 was simply not competitive. McLaren lost its technical edge and saw competitors like Red Bull and Mercedes dominate in the following period. It was the start of a downward spiral that was exacerbated by the catastrophic collaboration with Honda from 2015 to 2017, during which the engines were so slow that Alonso even compared them to GP2 power units at Suzuka.
Three seasons of subpar performances and reliability issues pushed the team back to the rear of the grid. The switch to Renault engines did not bring the hoped-for breakthrough either. It became painfully clear that not only the engine, but also the team’s own chassis was lacking. McLaren had to drastically restructure the organization, which took years.
It was only after the return to Mercedes power units in 2021 that McLaren began to climb again. Under the leadership of Zak Brown and a completely revamped structure, the team has fought its way back. This is partly why Norris’ title is so special: it marks the end of a 17-year drought and confirms McLaren’s resurgence. From the glory years with Senna and Prost, through Hamilton’s thriller in 2008, to a new generation that puts the team back on the top step.
