McLaren’s Lando Norris is your F1 World Champion.
The 26-year-old Brit captured his first overall title with a third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi GP behind, ironically, his two closest pursuers in Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri. Verstappen copped gold, Piastri bagged silver, and Norris settled for the bronze.
But that was all he needed coming in. Norris’ points total prior to the Abu Dhabi GP was 408, while Verstappen’s and Piastri’s were 396 and 392, respectively. That lead meant Norris needed only to secure a podium finish in the last race of the season, and he’d win his maiden F1 World Championship—regardless of how Verstappen and Piastri finished.
In the end, Lando Norris edged Max Verstappen by 2 points, and Piastri by 13.
A Dream Season for Lando Norris
Put simply, Lando Norris had a dream season with 7 total wins and 18 podium finishes—including that championship-clinching bronze at Abu Dhabi.
Norris, incidentally, began the season by winning the Australian Grand Prix with a command performance. But teammate Oscar Piastri quickly outpaced Norris, winning four of the next five races to set the early pace for the championship chase. Piastri was still comfortably ahead by August but steadily fell off after a drop in performance that saw him miss the podium five straight times starting in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix all the way to the Sao Paolo Grand Prix.
While Piastri fizzled, Norris—along with Verstappen—flourished down the stretch, winning gold in Mexico and Brazil, and nailing the podium he needed in Abu Dhabi to clinch the crown.
“Thank you, guys,” Norris said on the team radio after his title-clinching effort. “I love you guys, thanks for everything. I love you, Mum, I love you, Dad. And I’m crying!”
With the win, Lando Norris also gave McLaren a glorious double-gold, as the latter had already clinched the Constructors’ Championship as early as October. Norris is also the first McLaren driver since fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton to win the F1 World Championship.
