Lando Norris wins his maiden F1 World Championship, becomes first McLaren title winner since 2008

Norris only needed to finish on the podium of the season-ending race to win the title and he finished third, behind teammate Oscar Piastri in second and race-winner Verstappen.

Norris only needed to finish on the podium of the season-ending race to seal the victory and he finished third, behind teammate Oscar Piastri in second and race-winner Verstappen. (AP Photo)

Lando Norris finished third in the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP and thus won the Formula World Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career, ending Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s hold on the title. Norris is the first McLaren driver to have won the title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Norris only needed to finish on the podium of the season-ending race to seal the victory and he finished third, behind teammate Oscar Piastri in second and race-winner Verstappen.

In keeping with his late season rally, Verstappen won his third race in a row. He has won more races (eight) than any driver this year. Norris, who becomes the 11th British driver to win the title, ended the season with 423 points to Verstappen’s 421 and Piastri’s 410.

“I’ve not cried in a while. I didn’t think I would cry but I did,” said an emotional Norris in a post-race interview, after also shedding tears inside his helmet.

“It feels amazing. I now know what Max feels like a little bit. 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. It’s been an honour, I’ve learned a lot from both,” he added.

Verstappen has held the title since 2021, having won it four consecutive times after ending Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ record breaking grip on it. He would’ve become just the second driver in F1 history to have won the title five times in a row, an achievement that belongs only to Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher. Charles Leclerc finished fourth in Sunday’s race for Ferrari with George Russell fifth for Mercedes and Fernando Alonso sixth for Aston Martin.

Norris’ victory makes it the first time since 2009 that a driver racing for a team outside of Red Bull or Mercedes won the title. (AP Photo)

Esteban Ocon was seventh for Haas, ahead of Hamilton — who failed to stand on the podium all year in a career low for the 40-year-old who joined the Italian team this year from Mercedes. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was ninth in the German’s 250th race and Lance Stroll 10th for Aston Martin.

Norris’ victory makes it the first time since 2009 that a driver racing for a team outside of Red Bull or Mercedes won the title. Verstappen started from pole position for Red Bull with Norris on the front row beside him and Piastri third on the grid. Verstappen needed Norris to be fourth or lower and Norris had to finish outside the top five if Piastri won.

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Verstappen’s astounding late-season charge came close to unseating both McLaren drivers after they had shared the lead throughout the season and then were undone by driver and team-strategy errors. But even Verstappen’s season-leading eighth win and 71st of his career could not stop Norris, who kept his composure on Sunday having been under severe pressure in recent weeks.

(With Agency inputs)