What a Win, What a Beginning
Lessons for winning.
The Honor
We (the Formula 1 faithful) are starting a new season in beautiful Australia this week. It’s been three short months since Lando’s victory and Formula 1 Fan Based believe it is important to take a moment to honor that victory one more time. The Formula One world is about to change drastically with new cars, new teams, new engines. It’s easy to move forward because there are a lot of cool things to be excited about. Before we press the Overtake Mode and leave 2025 in the history logs, let us say Congratulations to World Champion Lando Norris. Congratulations McLaren. Your team earned it in every possible way.
It’s hard to ask for a better finish to a season than that of 2025. A young man with a dream to become a champion, realized that vision. As Mr. Disney so regularly taught, “The dream that you wish for, can come true…with massive amounts of hard work, luck, and hundreds of other people supporting you.” Perhaps not a direct quote, but I’m pretty sure that was the message the great storyteller was trying to convey.
Lando Norris achieved his dream, accomplishing something very few people will do. I’m not just talking about winning a championship in Formula One, but also the process of setting a goal, a grand goal, and then working hard to achieve it.
Try, Try Again
Most of us lowly earthlings set goals, and some of us even try to achieve those goals. Usually our goals aren’t as grand as becoming the dominate racer in the world…and yet we still fail. It is normal to fail at goals, in fact, it is above average to fail at meeting goals. There are some the don’t set goals at all, so just by setting a meaningful goal, you’re on the top half of the bell curve.
Failing at a goal you’ve set is above average. Lando succeeded in reaching his goal on his 7th try. So he was successful only 14% of the times that he tried. Only a 14% win rate and he will be remembered as an elite achiever, hopefully with a clever moniker. My vote is for “Lando the Great…Driver”. Please add your recommendations to the comments sections. Also add your thoughts: is it true that you also can be above average and still be failing?
Personality + Talent
Even when you have the talent to win, the chances are you will not achieve your goal because… life. Any circumstance: a tire puncture, a stuck wheel nut, a mechanic who’s out sick on the wrong day at the wrong time or even the migratory patterns of unladen European swallows; could derail all of the effort that a driver delivers.
Lando Norris is young (26 yrs old) and yet has lived a lifetime of disappointment and achievement. Though only through a screen, what we have seen of his personality in these extreme moments felt like honest warmth in the man from the grey damp island. Have you felt yourself cheering for Lando even when he beats your team? Where did that warmth for him come from? There are some things we do know:
Achievement without challenge,
Achievement with anger,
Achievement through manipulation, or
Achievement without gratitude
will make the WIN feel hollow. What a horrible feeling, that all the work you did didn’t matter. Lando is refreshing because he did have challenge, he wasn’t angry or manipulative, and he is overflowing with gratitude. His personality makes this championship mean more.
I am not one for high praise of Max Verstappen, but this brief moment should buy me a season or two of snide remarks: Max is truly a once in a lifetime talent and earned most of those championships with his skills both practiced and God given.
While I can see the achievement, it does not move me like watching Lando’s season. It’s a racing win but also a personal win for Lando and the fans. When a good guy wins, using his talent and has a authentic personality, it makes the win sweeter.
Something for Everybody
Maybe we see a bit of ourselves in the way Lando moves through his public life with honesty in his feelings and joy in his work. I believe that most of us are more like Lando and less like Max in our personalities.
Maybe Lando treats others the way I would want to be treated. If this concept were a fundamental rule for life, what would we call it? The folks at McLaren let the team mates safely challenge each other and called it Papaya Rules. Lando’s adhered to more eternal rule…the same color of his championship trophy! Golden.
Summarizing today's “Lessons from Lando” will help us prepare to watch a new racing season and prepare to win our own daily races.
Lessons from Lando:
If at first you don’t succeed, try try again
To truly win, participate with honesty
Let yourself have some joy because you are winning by trying.
The Golden Rule is greater than the Papaya Rule.