Lando Norris explains 'bizarre' shift after F1 title triumph

Lando Norris has admitted it feels "bizarre" to enter the new F1 season with a title success in his pocket.

Having joined McLaren in 2019, Norris clinched his first championship last year as McLaren rose to the forefront of the pecking order.

The Briton primarily battled team-mate Oscar Piastri for the top spot before Max Verstappen became a contender late in the year, closing to within two points of Norris at the end of the campaign.

His title success marked the first time since 2008 that a McLaren driver came out on top in the drivers' championship.

As Norris enters the new season aiming to defend his title, the 26-year-old acknowledged the label of being the reigning champion feels somewhat foreign to him.

"It is a bizarre feeling," Norris told media including RacingNews365.

"It's also amazing. When you compare it to Lewis [Hamilton], I can't even compare myself to Lewis because it's still 7–1.

"And I'm like, 'Damn, I have got to do another six more of those kinds of years to achieve that, or three to get to Max.'"

Norris joins Verstappen, Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as world champions currently racing in F1, and hopes he will be held in a higher regard by his peers after his successful season.

"I hope there's just a little extra level of respect that comes from achieving something, because for the people who know, it takes a lot to achieve what we achieved last season," he said.

"That's a cool thing, an extra bonus that comes with it. It's not required, it's not asked, but it's just something that comes along with it.

"I haven't spoken to too many other drivers, but I spoke to Alex [Albon] and George [Russell] the other day, because we played padel together.

"Especially for them, we came into Formula 1 around the same time, you can see it creates even more hunger for them, which is great to see.

"Especially for George because he's the bookies' favourite! He's all a bit giddy at the minute.

"It's a great thing to see."