Post by : Rameen Ariff

Lando Norris says he wants a painting—one that captures every feeling and every image from the final laps before he became the Formula One world champion for the first time. The 26-year-old McLaren driver hopes to hang it on his wall as a reminder of what he calls an almost “out-of-body” moment as he raced towards the chequered flag at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday.

A day after securing the biggest victory of his career, Lando Norris sat with reporters and explained how his thoughts drifted to family, childhood memories, and years of hard work. He said the last two laps, where he only needed a third-place finish to win the championship, felt like “the best memory” of his life.

Norris shared that as he approached the finish, everything slowed down in his mind. He imagined the view from his helmet—the visor, the bumps on the track, and the sea of McLaren papaya colours around him. That, he said, is the moment he wants captured in a painting.

“I really want someone to paint that moment from my eyes,” he said. “Coming around the last corner, seeing the chequered flag, lifting off, and then both my gloves in front of my face because I started to cry… I want to save that moment. That was the real ‘it’ moment for me.”

A Feeling Other Champions Have Spoken About

Norris’s description echoed the words of McLaren legend Ayrton Senna, who once spoke of a similar out-of-body experience during a stunning lap in Monaco in 1988. Norris made it clear he does not compare himself to Senna, but he admitted the feeling carried the same sense of wonder.

Three laps before the end, he wondered how he would react to being world champion. He feared he might feel nothing. But instead, he said the flashbacks hit him all at once—childhood karting, video games with his father Adam, and the image of his mother Cisca watching from the garage.

“It was like a movie,” Norris said. “Flashbacks, highlights… almost like the final moments of someone’s life, but for me it was just the last minutes before becoming champion. I felt like I was watching myself from above, like a bird’s-eye view.”

Doing It His Own Way

Before the race weekend, Norris admitted he had watched videos of how other champions, including Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, celebrated their Formula One titles. But in the end, none of those moments influenced him. He chose to experience everything naturally.

“I’m happy I didn’t copy anything,” he said. “Everything that happened was spontaneous. It made the moment even more special.”

With his first Formula One world championship secured and one of the most emotional finishes in recent years, Norris says he now wants to preserve the memory forever—through the painting that will capture the moment he realised his dream.

#Global News