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Lando Norris secured his first drivers’ championship on Sunday, achieving McLaren’s first title double since 1998 with a well-calculated drive that earned him third place, behind the race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull and his teammate Oscar Piastri.
An emotional Norris, brought to tears, clinched the title by a narrow two-point margin over Verstappen, who lost his crown after four consecutive years, during a gripping season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that was heavily influenced by strategy and tactics.
“Thank you, guys, you made a kid’s dream come true,” he said.
“I haven’t cried in a while. I didn’t think I would cry, but I did,” Norris said on the podium in the desert night at the floodlit Yas Marina circuit.
“I want to thank my mum, my dad, they’ve supported me since the beginning.
“It feels amazing, I know now what Max feels like a little bit. I want to congratulate both Max and Oscar, I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been a long year!” he added.
Upon crossing the finish line, his team engineer told him: “That’s it, mate, you are world champion, world champion!”
Norris now stands as Britain’s first world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020, marking the 13th driver’s title for McLaren.
The success of the 26-year-old comes more than 50 years after Emerson Fittipaldi achieved the British team’s first drivers’ title in 1974.
Several legendary F1 drivers followed, including James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999), and Hamilton in 2008. Piastri, who had led the championship for a significant portion of the season before Norris passed him in Mexico, finished third overall in the standings.
Sunday’s season finale marked the first time in over a decade that the championship was contested by more than two drivers at the final race, reminiscent of the four-way battle seen in Abu Dhabi in 2010. Norris demonstrated remarkable discipline and composure as he navigated the race under intense pressure, acutely aware that any mistake could hand the title to the relentless Verstappen or Piastri, who had led the championship for 15 Grands Prix this season.
Verstappen achieved his fifth victory in Abu Dhabi, reinforcing Yas Marina Circuit’s record of producing 11 straight winners from pole position as he finished 12.594 seconds ahead of Piastri, while Norris came in third, trailing by 3.9 seconds.
Charles Leclerc, who had been vying with Norris for much of the race, claimed fourth place for a rejuvenated Ferrari, followed by George Russell of Mercedes, Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin, and Esteban Ocon of Haas.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton secured a respectable eighth place for Ferrari, after starting from 16th position, finishing ahead of Oliver Bearman of Haas and Nico Hulkenberg, who marked his 250th Grand Prix with Audi-bound Sauber.
