Norris relives childhood dream on Goodwood balcony after maiden F1 title

Lando Norris celebrated his 2025 Formula 1 world championship at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Saturday, driving the McLaren MCL60 up the famous hillclimb before being guided to the Goodwood House balcony by the Duke of Richmond to address a cheering crowd.

Speaking during an on-stage interview with former F1 driver Karun Chandhok, Norris drew a direct line between the moment and a visit he made to the same event roughly 13 years earlier as a young fan.

“This is my dream,” Norris told the crowd. “I came here with my brother and my dad 13, 14 years ago. I met some of the drivers back then, and I thought, ‘One day, I want to be like these guys.’ And 13 years later, I get to be the lucky one who stands up here in front of all of you. I get to wear the number one.”

Norris also reflected on sharing the balcony the previous day with Valentino Rossi, the MotoGP legend he grew up idolising. “I stood here with my hero. He’s a guy I looked up to when I was a kid,” he said. “They say don’t meet your heroes. Definitely meet your heroes.”

The Briton secured his maiden championship at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after fending off team-mate Oscar Piastri across the season and resisting a second-half challenge from four-time champion Max Verstappen.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who joined Norris on the balcony, acknowledged the scale of the achievement while making clear the team’s attention has already shifted to 2026. “The past is the past, but an incredible past,” Stella said. “We were almost last, and we ended up constructors’ world champions and then double world champions, and Lando world champion.”

Stella added that the team is determined to sustain that level of success. “There’s a little bit of a curse in Formula 1, and it’s the fact that you always look at the future. We want to be in a position to repeat these kinds of results very soon and see Lando and Oscar succeeding and fighting again for the world championship.”

In the current 2026 season, Norris and Piastri sit fifth and sixth in the drivers’ standings with 97 and 82 points respectively, as McLaren look to mount another title challenge.