Lando Norris will match McLaren’s all-time record for race starts at this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Brit will hit an impressive 150 races with the team, tying David Coulthard’s long-standing mark that was set between 1996 and 2004.
A win under the bright lights of Vegas would be especially meaningful. It would be Norris’ 12th victory for McLaren—matching Coulthard’s win total with the team as well.
Norris has been quietly climbing McLaren’s all-time driver list all season. In Japan, he matched two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen’s 131 starts. Then in Monaco, he not only took the checkered flag but also pulled even with Jenson Button’s 136 races for the team.
With his contract running through 2027, Norris is almost certain to leave both records in the dust.
## Seven years and counting
Norris’ journey with McLaren began in 2017 when he joined their junior program. After an impressive F2 season, he earned a full-time F1 seat in 2019 when he was just 19 years old.
Paired with Carlos Sainz in an all-new lineup, he finished a solid 11th in the championship that year. He impressed right away with a 6th place finish in just his second race in Bahrain.
2020 marked his breakthrough. Norris claimed his first F1 podium in the Covid-delayed season opener in Austria. The following year brought four more podium finishes and his first pole position in Russia, while consistently outperforming his experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
When new regulations came in 2022, Norris was the only driver outside the big three teams—Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes—to stand on a podium all season, achieving the feat at Imola.
## Norris rises as team leader and race winner
By 2023, Norris had become the team leader alongside rookie Oscar Piastri. Though McLaren started slowly, they found their stride in the second half of the year with several podium finishes.
The real turning point came in Miami 2024. Norris finally broke through for his first F1 win, then pushed Max Verstappen in a late-season title charge, collecting four race victories along the way. McLaren also claimed their first constructors’ championship since 1998.
Now, with just three races left in 2025, Norris leads the championship by 24 points over teammate Piastri.
He’s racked up seven wins and 17 podiums so far this season.
Could this finally be the year McLaren brings home its first drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008?
## Norris breaks Schumacher’s 30-year-old record
Norris recently set an incredible new F1 record by winning his first 11 races at 11 different circuits after his victory at the Brazil GP, surpassing Michael Schumacher‘s mark of 10.
His winning journey began in Miami 2024, followed by triumphs in the Netherlands, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi that same year. Seven more victories have followed in 2025 with the impressive MCL39, each at a different track.
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