Norris’ World title ‘fluke’? McLaren driver will be ‘want to prove’ that’s not the case
Lando Norris, the F1 2025 World Champion
Reported racking up a £100,000 bar bill as he celebrated his maiden World title, Juan Pablo Montoya reckons Lando Norris is going to enjoy the moment and then get down to business soon as he’ll want to prove his title wasn’t a “fluke”.
Norris silenced his detractors as he came from behind to win the World title, overcoming questions about his mental strength to take the title by two points in a thrilling showdown.
Can Lando Norris win multiple World titles?
Needing just a third place to wrap up the title in Abu Dhabi, Norris was covered off by pole-sitter Max Verstappen into Turn 1 on the opening lap before being overtaken by his teammate Oscar Piastri at Turn 9.
Under pressure from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the 26-year-old didn’t panic or put a wheel wrong, even with Yuki Tsunoda’s over-the-line defending as he tried to hold up Norris to give Verstappen breathing room and potentially allow others to attack the McLaren for position.
Although Verstappen claimed the final win of the championship, his eighth to Norris’ seven, it was the Briton who won the title by two points ahead of the Red Bull driver and brought Verstappen’s four-year reign to an end.
According to The Sun, he celebrated in style.
Starting out at the Pearls & Caviar bar, Norris head to the Amber Lounge in the W Hotel where he belted out Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions’ and Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ into the early hours of the morning.
A source told the tabloid: “It’s a night none of them will ever forget – especially for whoever ended up paying the tab – it was around £100,000 towards the end of the party.”
But whatever it cost, it was Norris’ best hangover yet.
F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers
👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship
👉 The final Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings
Norris returned to the Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday for the post-season test, where he shared the driving duties with Piastri, before heading to the team’s HQ in Woking where he was treated to a hero’s welcome from the team.
We clipped out our favourite moments ✨
Just look at those smiles 🧡#McLaren pic.twitter.com/A9fG5ZxiA5
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) December 10, 2025
Next up for Norris after the PR commitments have been completed is a well-deserved holiday with family, friends, and his girlfriend Margarida Corceiro.
But it won’t be a long vacation as seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya reckons Norris will want to get back to work quickly as he’ll be determined to prove his F1 2025 World title was not a “fluke”.
Montoya, a guest pundit on F1TV, said in Abu Dhabi: “For me, I think, yeah, he’s going to take a week off or a couple weeks off, but he wants to prove to everybody that this wasn’t a fluke.
“That he can go and he can start winning championships and get the job done. So I think you’re going to see a really strong Lando next year because he doesn’t want to go next year and get Oscar to beat him.
“So he wants to prove: ‘I did it last year. I’m going to keep doing it.’ And I think that the love in McLaren is not going to be as comfortable as we think because through the year, if one of them is dominating the other one, it’s just not going to be fun.”
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