Lando Norris omitted from 2025 New Year’s Honours list
Lando Norris has been conspicuously omitted from the 2025 New Year’s Honours list, despite securing Britain’s first Formula One world championship since Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 triumph, reports BritPanorama.
The McLaren driver’s absence marks a departure from long-standing convention, which has typically seen British champions recognised with royal honours following their maiden title victories. This has raised questions about the criteria for such recognitions.
Norris claimed the drivers’ championship this season after a hard-fought battle, becoming only the fourth British world champion in the modern era to miss immediate acknowledgement through the honours system. His title victory came at the end of an intense season-long contest with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, whom he defeated by a narrow margin of just two points.
The championship race was closely contested, with all three drivers remaining in contention through the season. Norris’s triumph also ended Verstappen’s consecutive championship streak and marked a significant return to form for McLaren.
Traditionally, British Formula One champions have received honours shortly after their inaugural successes. Damon Hill was recognised in 1996, while Hamilton received his MBE in 2008, and Jenson Button was honoured in 2009. Norris’s omission alongside his missed opportunity for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, won by golfer Rory McIlroy, adds to a year of significant yet unacknowledged accomplishments for him.
After winning the championship, Norris expressed deep gratitude towards his family and team. His genuine emotion was evident when he stated, “Oh, God, I have not cried in a while. It has been a long journey. I want to thank my guys, everyone at McLaren, my parents, my mum, my dad, they are the ones who have supported me since the beginning.”
As Norris takes a well-deserved break following the intense racing calendar, he will look ahead to the commencement of the 2026 F1 season on March 8, with the first race set to take place in Melbourne, Australia. This recent chapter in his career serves as a reminder that even amidst triumph, recognition can sometimes slip through the cracks.
