Lando Norris wins his first F1 title in Abu Dhabi

The 26-year-old took the title by two points from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won the race to take his eighth victory of the year, one more than the Briton and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

McLaren were always in control of a race packed with tension even though Verstappen was on course for victory from the first lap, because Piastri finished second and was in a position to help Norris if needed.

Norris becomes the 11th British F1 world champion at the end of his seventh season in F1, a year that he started slowly but in which he came on strong in the second half of the year.

And it is McLaren’s first drivers’ and constructors’ title double since 1998.

“I’ve not cried in a while and I didn’t think I would cry but I did,” said a jubilant Norris.

“I mean, it feels amazing, I now know what Max feels like. I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors the whole season.

“It’s been a pleasure to race against both of them and an honour, I’ve learned a lot from both of them as well.

“I’ve enjoyed it and it has been a long year but we did it and I’m so proud of everyone.”

While the McLaren has been the fastest car on balance this season, Norris’ championship will be given added credibility by the fact that he won it in the face of a tough challenge from Verstappen, who is widely acknowledged as the finest driver of his generation.

Norris cried in his car on the slowing-down lap as he accepted the congratulations of his team and thanked them and his family for getting him into a place to fulfil his lifetime ambition.

The key stories of the race were:

• Norris and McLaren’s calm and controlled drive to the title
• A battle between Norris and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda as the Japanese sought to help out Verstappen mid-race and a brief threat of a penalty for the McLaren driver
• A dominant victory from Verstappen to crown perhaps the most impressive year of his career

McLaren and Norris deal with the pressure

As the race finally started after a nervy weekend for McLaren, the pressure was high after the team had suffered two difficult races in the grands prix preceding this one.

A double disqualification in Las Vegas followed by a botched strategy that handed Verstappen victory in Qatar had upped the stakes for McLaren at the end of a year in which they won the constructors’ title with six races to go.

Norris took a cautious approach to the start, not engaging with Verstappen as the Dutchman aggressively defended his lead from pole position on the run to the first corner.

Halfway around the lap, Piastri swept around the outside of Norris at the long left-hander of Turn Nine.

The move had been previously discussed in McLaren strategy meetings as a way to bring the Australian into play for the victory against Verstappen. Norris did not make it difficult for his team-mate to pass.

Piastri was on hard tyres and Verstappen and Norris on medium, so the plan was to run long and give Red Bull something to consider and reduce the risk of him backing up the field to Norris’ disadvantage.

Norris was left to battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for third place but was always in control.

And after a second tyre stop for Norris to mirror Leclerc’s two-stop strategy, the Briton closed in on Piastri in the final laps.

“It’s incredible. It is pretty surreal, you know?” said Norris. “I’ve dreamed of this for a long, long time. Everyone does.

“A lot goes into a season like this, a lot of ups, a lot of downs. But none of that matters as long as you try and come out on top, and that’s what we have managed to do.

“It’s not just this year, it has been over the last seven or eight years being with McLaren, with the last 16, 17 years of my life, trying to chase this dream, and today we all did it so I’m pretty happy.”

Verstappen, who was aiming to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive drivers’ titles, said: “I kept looking up at the screen and hoping something would pop up. Every straight, I kept looking to see if something was happening, but it didn’t and that is racing, and I am not too fussed about it.

“I have no regrets about my season.”

The nerviest moment for Norris came after his first pit stop, when he came up behind Tsunoda in a battle for third place.

Red Bull had started the Japanese driver on hard tyres for the express purpose of trying to affect the race of Verstappen’s rival, in the way his predecessor Sergio Perez had with Lewis Hamilton in the controversial decider here in 2021.

Red Bull made it clear that he “knew what to do” after being told to do everything he could to hold up Norris.

He weaved down the straight on lap 23, but Norris committed for the inside, and kept this foot hard down even as he was edged slightly off track.

The incident was put under investigation by the stewards and the question was whether Norris would receive a penalty for overtaking off the track.

The stewards took no further action on that charge, but did penalise Tsunoda for making too many moves in defence.

From then on, Norris had only to hope his car kept going to the end, which it did, as he sealed an achievement that crowned his career, that he said on Thursday he had been working for for 16 years, and to underline a superb season for McLaren.

It is the first drivers’ championship won by the team since Lewis Hamilton’s first title in 2008.

Source: BBC 

--Agencies