McLaren driver Lando Norris held back his tears after winning his first Formula One title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Red Bull driver and defending champion Max Verstappen won the race, with Norris finishing third behind McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in second place, allowing Norris to finish two points ahead of Verstappen in the season standings.
“It's incredible. It's quite surreal. I've dreamed of this for a long, long time,” said Norris, 26, who began his Formula One career as a test and reserve driver for McLaren. “I feel like I contributed to the team this year and I’m really proud of myself for that. I'm even more proud of everyone I hope I made cry.”
Norris became the 11th British Formula One champion, having started his racing journey with karting when he was eight years old. The first of his 11 Formula One race wins came last year when he finished second overall.
Piastri was also in contention for his first Formula One title and finished third in the standings, 13 points behind Norris, who finished the season with seven wins and 423 points.
Norris became the first British champion since Lewis Hamilton won his record seventh title in 2020 and also denied Verstappen a fifth title in a row.
“Oh God. I haven't cried in a long time. It's a long way. First of all, I want to say a big thank you to my guys, my parents,” Norris said minutes after the race. “Now I know a little about how Max feels. I want to congratulate him and Oscar too. It was a long year, but we did it.”
Norris entered a three-way battle 12 points ahead of Verstappen and 16 points ahead of Piastri, who has also won seven races but none since the Dutch Grand Prix on 31 August.
Verstappen started from pole position, with Norris sitting next to him on the front row and Piastri third on the grid. Verstappen needed Norris to be fourth or lower, and Norris needed to finish outside the top five if Piastri won.
Verstappen's stunning late-season attack came close to unseating both McLaren drivers after they had shared the lead all season before being undone by driver errors and team strategy.
Verstappen's title chances increased dramatically with two races to go after Norris and Piastri were suspended in Las Vegas.
But not even Verstappen's eighth win of the season and 71st of his career could stop Norris, who maintained his composure on Sunday having been under intense pressure in recent weeks.
“Oscar and Lando have been fantastic all year,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky broadcaster. “That Max is pretty hard to beat.”
The McLaren motorhome erupted with joy as Norris captured it, and Brown congratulated Norris over the team radio in his usual cheerful manner.
“Lando, this is Zach from McLaren. Is this the world champion hotline? You did it! You did it! Amazing,” Brown said.
Norris didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He did both.
“Oh my God, thank you so much. I love you guys. Thank you for everything,” Norris said, then burst into tears.
After crossing the line, Norris remained in the car for a few moments, clearly nervous. His parents were on the side of the track and he walked over to hug them before celebrating with his McLaren engineers and mechanics.
Piastri wanted to become Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980, but his failure to win a race since Zandvoort cost him.
Pole position was crucial at the 58-lap Abu Dhabi circuit, where overtaking is difficult, and that proved true again as Verstappen joined a long list of race winners from pole position since 2015.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in sixth.
Verstappen made a clean start, with Piastri overtaking Norris at the end of the first lap and the agile Leclerc soon falling behind Norris.
Norris was the first of the contenders to change tires when he entered the 17th lap. But he got stuck in traffic and Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda passed him into third, which in turn allowed Leclerc to pull away from Norris.
Norris overtook Tsunoda on lap 23 but drove very far and went off track, but race stewards gave Tsunoda a five-second penalty for zigzagging in front of Norris, who was cleared of the charges.
Tsunoda, who will be replaced by Isak Hajar at Red Bull next year, reacted angrily when he was told he had come out to Norris on more than one occasion to defend his position.
“This is mega pace,” Ferrari told Leclerc over the team radio.
Norris pitted again on lap 41 and moments later Verstappen overtook Piastri to take the lead. Piastri came a lap later for his only change, but Norris still held the cards as both McLarens covered a possible second tire change for Verstappen.
Norris's main threat was Leclerc, and he was about four seconds behind him with 10 laps remaining.
– Does Charles catch him or not? Verstappen asked his race engineer.
Leclerc couldn't get any closer, meaning Norris might have gotten closer to the title if not for some accident or a late safety car.
