Juan Pablo Montoya and Damon Hill agree on one 2026 Lando Norris prediction, they’re absolutely spot on

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Lando Norris will find himself in an unfamiliar position when Formula 1 returns in 2026. He has a world championship to defend.

For the first time since 2021, the number one will not be on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, as Norris will take the plate after securing the 2025 title with McLaren. The Brit beat the Dutchman by two points to become F1’s 35th champion.

That would have seemed unlikely to foresee earlier in the season, as Oscar Piastri looked to have the upper hand out of the papaya duo. The Australian led the championship by 34 points after the Dutch GP, following Norris’ mechanical DNF.

It looked like a huge mountain to climb for the 25-year-old. But Norris made drastic improvements behind the scenes, and he suddenly found himself back in contention.

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel sent advice to Norris during the season, which went a long way to help change his fortunes. Suddenly, the Brit shifted the momentum in his favour, claiming two wins and six podiums in the last nine races on his way to the 2025 championship.

Celebrations were in full swing in Abu Dhabi as Norris clinched his maiden title. But some people are already looking ahead to his championship defence in 2026.

Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Lando Norris will be ‘really strong’ in 2026

F1 enters a complete unknown next year, as no one knows where anyone will be with the new technical regulations. McLaren will hope to keep their advantage at the front, especially with rumours that Mercedes have the fastest power unit in 2026.

Naturally, Norris will want to take some time off over the winter before preparing for next season. But Juan Pablo Montoya thinks the Brit will be determined to prove that his 2025 is not a one-off.

He said after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on F1 TV: “But for me, I think it’s the other way. For me, I think, yeah, he’s going to take a week off or a couple weeks off, but he wants to prove to everybody that this wasn’t a fluke.

“That he can go and he can start winning championships and get the job done. So I think you’re going to see a really strong Lando next year because he doesn’t want to go next year and get Oscar to beat him.

“So he wants to prove: ‘I did it last year. I’m going to keep doing it.’ And I think that the love in McLaren is not going to be as comfortable as we think because through the year, if one of them is dominating the other one, it’s just not going to be fun.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Damon Hill agrees with Juan Pablo Montoya that Lando Norris won’t let Oscar Piastri beat him in 2026

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s commentary of the race, 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill agrees with Montoya that Norris will not let Piastri get the upper hand next season.

“He can now stand next to Max Verstappen and say: ‘I got one too.’ Of course, Oscar will be really envious of that situation, he knows he had a chance,” he said.

“Somewhere it went wrong, we think of Baku, for some reason, there was a couple of occasions, in Brazil. But then Lando also had some moments too, so they’re not all perfect.

“They will be coming back next year, but I think what will happen now at McLaren is, what you cannot assume is that Lando will be letting Oscar get a world championship if they’re in contention next year.”

Montoya and Hill are absolutely spot on with their assessments. Norris will be determined to keep his teammate behind him and get off to a strong start in the new regulations.

He has the momentum and the mentality to do it, with Nico Rosberg hearing that Norris switched off social media to focus on winning the title in 2025. It worked a treat this year, and there is no reason why it cannot happen in 2026.