Nearing the cusp of a championship breakthrough, Lando Norris finds himself under an intense global spotlight — yet his partner, Portuguese model Margarida Corceiro, remains refreshingly detached from the sport’s intricacies. While the McLaren driver commands the top of the standings with only three rounds left in the 2025 season, Corceiro openly concedes that the world of downforce, tyre compounds, and telemetry is a complete enigma to her. Her presence in the paddock, she insists, is rooted solely in loyalty, not fascination with Formula One’s glamorous machinery.
Norris’ campaign has been nothing short of electric. After finishing runner-up to Max Verstappen the previous year, he now holds a 24-point advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri, with Verstappen still looming in third. Should Norris maintain his ascendancy, he is poised to become the eleventh Briton to seize the World Drivers’ Championship — the first new British champion since Jenson Button’s remarkable 2009 triumph with Brawn, and a successor to Lewis Hamilton’s era-defining dominance. Against this backdrop of historic anticipation, Corceiro has been a constant, understated fixture beside him.
Despite her modelling fame — and her 2.2 million Instagram followers — Corceiro dismisses any expectation to play the role of the quintessential F1 celebrity partner. She describes herself as blissfully uninvolved: uninterested in engines, indifferent to aerodynamics, and unmoved by the performative aspects of the sport’s media circus. Cameras follow her simply because they wander, not because she beckons them. Whether she appears on a broadcast or not, she insists, has no bearing on her purpose: she is there for one person alone.
Her presence accompanies a wider constellation of high-profile paddock partners, from Alexandra Saint Mleux to Lily He to Kelly Piquet — a collective often spotlighted by broadcasters. This increasing focus recently drew criticism, particularly from Carlos Sainz, who lambasted TV crews for prioritising celebrity reaction shots over pivotal on-track action. He highlighted missed overtakes and crucial late-lap battles, arguing that the spectacle of racing should never play second fiddle to the aesthetic allure of the paddock.
F1’s production team responded swiftly, stripping WAG coverage entirely in the following round and reaffirming their commitment to showcasing the essence of the sport: the visceral, technical, high-stakes combat unfolding on the asphalt. They emphasised that while the environment and its personalities enhance the atmosphere, the racing itself remains sacred. In the end, the juxtaposition becomes clear — as Norris edges toward motorsport immortality, Corceiro’s quiet, unaffected presence serves as a grounding contrast to a world obsessed with velocity, glamour, and spectacle.
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