McLaren driver Lando Norris clinches his first F1 title at season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

McLaren driver Lando Norris held his nerve but could not hold back the tears after clinching his first Formula title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday Red Bull driver and defending champion Max Verstappen won the race with Norris placing third behind his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in second which allowed Norris to finish two points ahead of Verstappen in the season-long standings It s incredible It is pretty surreal I ve dreamed of this for a long long time commented the -year-old Norris who started his F career as a test and reserve driver with McLaren I feel like I did my part for the group this year and I m very proud of myself for that I m even more proud for everyone who I hopefully made cry Norris became Britain s th F champion a racing journey that began with kart racing when he was eight years old The first of his F race wins came last year when he finished second overall in the standings Piastri was also in contention for his first F title and finished third in the standings points behind Norris who ended the season with seven wins and points Norris became the first British champion since Lewis Hamilton won his record-equaling seventh title in and also denied Verstappen a fifth straight title Oh God I ve not cried in a while It s a long journey First of all I want to say a big thanks to my guys my parents Norris explained a sparse minutes after the race I now know what Max feels like a little bit I want to congratulate him and Oscar too Norris entered the three-way battle points ahead of Verstappen and ahead of Piastri who also won seven races but none since the Dutch GP on Aug Verstappen started from pole position with Norris on the front row beside him and Piastri third on the grid The Dutchman needed Norris to be fourth or lower and Norris had to finish outside the top five if Piastri won 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 Verstappen s title chances were dramatically improved with two races to go after Norris and Piastri were disqualified in Las Vegas But even Verstappen s season-leading eighth win and st of his career could not stop Norris who kept his composure on Sunday having been under severe pressure in current weeks Oscar and Lando have been awesome all year McLaren CEO Zak Brown recounted broadcaster Sky This Max guy is pretty hard to beat The McLaren motorhome erupted with bliss when Norris clinched it and Brown congratulated Norris on the association radio in his usual jovial manner Lando this is Zak from McLaren Is this the world champion hotline You did it You did it Awesome Brown noted Norris didn t know whether to laugh or cry He did both Oh my God thanks so much I love you guys Thanks for everything Norris reported and then broke down in tears After spanning the line Norris stayed in his car for a sparse moments visibly emotional His parents were on the side of the track and he went over to hug them before celebrating with his McLaren engineers and mechanics Piastri was looking to become the first Australian champion since Alan Jones in but his failure to win a race after Zandvoort cost him When things have been good this year I ve felt unstoppable Piastri revealed Ultimately I ve learnt a lot about myself I think that will only help me going forward Norris praised Piastri saying at selected point he will get the better of me as he is an incredible driver Pole position was crucial on the -lap circuit in Abu Dhabi where overtaking is hard and so it proved again as Verstappen joined the long list of race winners from pole since Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari ahead of George Russell Mercedes and Fernando Alonso Aston Martin in sixth Verstappen gets away Verstappen made a clean start with Piastri overtaking Norris while the slick Leclerc was soon behind Norris Norris changed tires on Lap but was caught behind certain traffic and had Verstappen s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda ahead of him in third spot which in turn allowed Leclerc to close on Norris Tsunoda penalized Norris overtook Tsunoda on Lap but went very wide and off track limits Race stewards gave Tsunoda a -second time penalty for zig-zagging in front of Norris who was cleared Tsunoda reacted angrily when informed he had moved more than once in front of Norris when defending his position Slick Leclerc Norris pitted again on Lap with Verstappen overtaking Piastri moments later to take the lead Piastri came in a lap later but Norris still held the cards because both McLarens had covered an eventual second tire change for Verstappen The main threat for Norris was Leclerc and he was about seconds behind him with laps left Is Charles catching him or not Verstappen sought his race engineer Leclerc couldn t get closer meaning Norris could coast to the title AP auto racing https apnews com hub auto-racing Formula https apnews com hub formula-one Source