McLaren Back in the Driver's Seat, But How Does Norris Compare to Some of Their Greats?

This was the 26-year-old's first championship, and he will be keen to kick on next season and try to forge a spell of success. Already, the top UK betting site odds place Verstappen as the favourite for the 2026 championship at 13/5, but Norris is narrowly behind him at 3/1, with team mate Oscar Piastri priced at 6/1.

The opening race of the 2026 season is evenly matched, with Norris and Verstappen joined by George Russel as joint 10/3 favourites. While Norris will be keen to get off to a good start in defending his title, he still has a way to go before he is considered among the greats of McLaren drivers.

McLaren has boasted some of the biggest names in F1 history, including a young Lewis Hamilton, who started his career there, narrowly missing out on a title in his rookie year, before going on to enjoy 21 wins and his first championship in 2008.

Other notable drivers who have won a championship under McLaren include Niki Lauda in 1984 and James Hunt in 1976. In 1998 and 1999, the 'Flying Finn' Mika Hakkinen enjoyed back-to-back championship glory, with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna out in the lead with 3 championships each.

Prost was a key figure to McLaren's success in the 1980s, winning 30 races and taking three titles in 1985, 1986, and 1989. In 1988, Prost partnered with the legendary Ayrton Senna, who holds McLaren's record for the most race wins, with 35.

Senna went on to win the 1988 Championship, sharing 15 of the 16 race victories with Prost. Prost took the next season's title before Senna enjoyed consecutive victories in 1990 and 1991.

Senna stayed with McLaren, whom he joined from Lotus in 1988, until 1993. That season, he had been a free agent and had offered his services to Williams for free; however, animosity with former teammate Prost put a stop to that. Prost had refused to be paired with Senna, and after turning down Ferrari, Senna was left with no other choice but to return to McLaren.

Senna eventually signed with Williams to replace the retiring Prost, and the pair reconciled following Senna's final Grand Prix victory in Australia when the Brazilian pulled Prost onto the podium as a show of respect for his retirement.

Sadly, the world of Motorsports faced a dark day on May 1st, 1994, when Senna fatally crashed at the San Marino Grand Prix. A state funeral took place, where it is estimated that over a million people turned out for the procession, with Brazil also implementing three days of mourning.

While this was a sad end to the star’s life, he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest F1 drivers in history and a genuine McLaren legend.