FORMULA 2’s 10th season: Lando Norris on F2 preparation en route to World Championship in Formula 1

11 May 2026

Last season, Lando Norris made history by becoming the first driver to graduate from FIA Formula 2 and go on to become Formula 1 World Champion.

The McLaren driver won out in a season-long battle against Max Verstappen as well as teammate and 2021 F2 Champion, Oscar Piastri.

Reflecting on his time in Formula 2, the reigning World Champion delves into the biggest lessons he learned, finest moments and favourite memories.

HOW FORMULA 2 PREPARED HIM FOR THE NEXT STEP

“I mean, you learn something new in every category that you do. So I was against some incredible drivers, a few of them I'm still racing against today.

“Just by driving against those drivers when most drivers come from Formula 2 - when you're in that category, you're racing some of the best in the world already.

“Some will go on to be World Champions and win races in F1. So, you're racing already against a pedigree that is pretty incredible, and you have to perform at a high level yourself if you want to do well.

“You also go to a lot of the racetracksthat Formula 1 goes to, and that's something that's very important. You get a good amount of track time in terms of races and qualifying sessions, so you get opportunities to try and learn how to drive under pressure, which again, is very important.

“Almost every situation that you get in Formula 1, you're already learning how to deal with in F2, and that's the important thing.”

Number 1: Norris became the first F2 graduate to win the F1 Championship last year

ADVICE TO THE 2026 GRID

“Probably just to not try and do anything overly excessive in that you think you have to impress someone. For some people it might take one year, for some it might take three years. There's no point trying to rush things trying to know everything there and then.

“The important thing is to not do anything where you’re feeling like you have to impress all of a sudden on a big scale in front of F1 teams and things like that.

“You just try to maximise what you already know, do what you can do yourself and learn as much as possible.”

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FAVOURITE MOMENT IN F2?

“I don't know. There's a lot of incredible moments that I had in F2. A lot of fun battles with George in Monza and things like that. I don't know what my absolute favourite would be…I think starting the season off the way that we did was pretty good. Otherwise, there's just a lot of fun races that I had like in Monza or Abu Dhabi. I enjoyed racing against George and Alex.”

Racing with Carlin and fighting with familiar foes Russell and Albon were stand-out memories from his time in F2

FAVOURITE OFF-TRACK MOMENT?

“Off track, I was with Carlin so for me, I did another year with Carlin and a lot of people I knew for many years. We always enjoyed a lot of moments together, and you learn a lot already about engineering and how to set up a car, how to go through data which is always important.”

HOW SPECIAL IS IT TO BE THE FIRST F1 WORLD CHAMPION TO COME FROM FORMULA 2?

“It was very special to look back on and hear about these things. I guess you don't really think about it at the time but having your name written down somewhere, especially for a good reason, is something to be very proud about. So I was happy I was that first one, and the first of what will be many.”