Formula 1, Sportrik Media - 1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill believes reigning champion Lando Norris has the potential to win multiple Formula 1 titles following his breakthrough championship success with McLaren.
Norris secured the 2025 drivers’ championship in dramatic fashion by finishing third at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, holding off late pressure from Max Verstappen to claim the title by just two points. The result added Norris’ name to the exclusive list of Formula 1 world champions dating back to the championship’s inception in 1950.
While winning a first title is a defining milestone, Hill noted that far fewer drivers manage to convert early success into sustained dominance. However, he is convinced Norris possesses the mindset required to add significantly to his championship tally in the coming years.
“He’s done it and there’s a lot of comfort that comes from that,” Hill said on the Stay on Track podcast.
“He will be able to, to some degree, relax. It’s a question of the amount of avarice you have to win.”
Hill drew comparisons with past multiple world champions, highlighting how an initial title can often act as a catalyst rather than a conclusion.
“I always thought when Michael won one, two, three, four, five championships, he’d had enough,” Hill added.
“But then he went on to win one or two more.”
According to Hill, Norris fits the profile of a driver whose hunger could increase after tasting championship success.
“Some people, it propels them to go on to win multiple championships,” he said.
“I definitely think Lando’s got more than one in him. I think he’s probably got three or four.”
Norris’ title-winning campaign also saw him finish ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, who led the drivers’ standings for a significant portion of the season. The internal McLaren battle became a defining feature of the 2025 championship fight.
Hill expects that dynamic to intensify, with Piastri likely to emerge stronger after narrowly missing out on a world title of his own.
“The question is Oscar, because he’s in the same team, and Oscar did not exactly underperform,” Hill explained.
“There were moments when he dropped out last year.”
Hill believes Piastri will use the off-season to analyse the marginal losses that ultimately cost him the championship.
“He will go through the winter and think, ‘OK, what do I have to do to patch up those little holes in my performance?’”
“He will find out how to stop that happening again.”
With Norris, Piastri, and Verstappen all involved in a three-way title fight deep into the season, Hill expects all parties to carry valuable lessons into the next campaign.
“They’ve both been through a title fight with themselves and Max at the end,” he said.
“They will have learned massively from that.”
Hill concluded by predicting that while McLaren’s driver pairing remains one of the strongest on the grid, internal competition will intensify as Piastri looks to prevent Norris from repeating his championship success.
“It will be a strong pairing,” Hill said.
“But there will be more determination within the team from Oscar to stop Lando beating him again.”
Overall, Hill’s endorsement underlines the growing belief that Norris’ first world title may be the foundation for a sustained period of success rather than a one-off achievement. As McLaren enters the new season as defending champions, the challenge for Norris will be balancing external title pressure with an increasingly formidable intra-team rivalry.
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