Lando Norris's championship win means Max Verstappen must give up the No. 1 in 2026. But how do Formula 1 drivers get their numbers in the first place?

Lando Norris will obtain the Drivers' Championship trophy tonight in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, at the annual FIA prize-giving gala, but the former world champion, Max Verstappen, will not be there.

McLaren played the conservative game with their leading driver as Lando Norris finished on the podium in the Abu Dhabi season finale and controls his own championship destiny.

Helmut Marko has revealed how his farewell phone conversation with Max Verstappen went, with the Dutchman being the ‘closest’ driver connection of his career. Marko has left Red Bull after over 20 years,

Verstappen won't be the only recent runner-up to miss the event. In 2021, after losing the title to the Red Bull racer in controversial fashion, Lewis Hamilton skipped the FIA's end-of-season event. The Brit was subsequently hit with a £43,800 (€50,000) fine for non-attendance.

LANDO NORRIS has just the eighth-highest net worth in F1 – despite being world champion. The 26-year-old won his first world title on Sunday after finishing third in the Abu Dhabi Grand

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has reacted to losing out on his bid to make it five Formula 1 Drivers' Championship titles in a row after Lando Norris secured the crown in the final race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, made it clear that he views the Dutchman as the rightful world champion of 2025 rather than McLaren’s Lando Norris, declaring: “For me, he won it,” when confronted with the Red Bull racer’s title defeat.