Lando Norris said he had doubts, but in the end, he was wrong.
Norris overcame inner turmoil and a 34-point deficit to Oscar Piastri, his McLaren teammate, to win his first Formula 1 drivers’ title by 2 points over a surging Max Verstappen, the four-time champion. Norris is McLaren’s first drivers’ champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
“If I look back on it, my first half of the season, not the most impressive,” he said, after finishing third in the final Grand Prix of the year in Abu Dhabi in December to take the title. “Certainly, there were times I made some mistakes, some bad judgments.
“There were doubts I had in the beginning of the year, but I managed to turn all of that around and have the second half of the season that I did. That I’ve been able to prove myself wrong makes me very proud and happy.”
Norris said he had expanded the group of people he worked with on and off the track, and that helped him.
“The number of people that I have in my corner,” Norris said, “not from McLaren but externally: my friends, my family, my coaches, people that help me think in better ways and perform in better ways” allowed him to be calm and perform under pressure.
Norris said he dedicated his title to his family.
“So much goes into achieving what we’ve achieved,” he said. “From all those years ago, when I saw Formula 1 on TV, when I saw a go-kart for the first time. My memories of the last couple of laps were really just that. They took me back to where it all started because I wouldn’t be here without my parents and the sacrifice they’ve made. This is not my world championship. This is ours. This is one where I get to say, ‘Thank you, Mom’ and ‘Thank you, Dad.’”
After four years of success, Verstappen of Red Bull fell short of equaling a record fifth consecutive title. At one stage, after his home Grand Prix in the Netherlands, the 15th of 24 races, he was 104 points adrift of the leader, Piastri.
He won six of the final nine Grands Prix, including the last in Abu Dhabi. Taking the championship to the last race exceeded expectations.
“It’s a shame to miss out on the title,” he said. “But at the same time, for a long period of time, I was not even thinking about the title. I never felt like I was in it until a few rounds ago. That’s pretty crazy.”
Verstappen said the past season was the best he had driven in Formula 1, and he had “no regrets.”
“The performance has been strong,” he said. “I’ve hated this car at times, but I’ve also loved it at times, and I always tried to extract the most from it, even in the difficult weekends that we had.”
Verstappen was magnanimous in defeat, urging Norris to savor the moment with everyone around him.
“Winning your first title is something you work for since you’re a little kid and dream of when you get into the sport,” he said. “So when you win your first, it is very emotional.”
Piastri led the championship for 15 rounds before relinquishing the top spot at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with four races remaining. After finishing second in Abu Dhabi behind Verstappen and ahead of Norris, he had to settle for third in the standings, 13 points behind.
He won seven of the first 15 Grands Prix, but was winless in the final nine. His season unraveled after crashing in Azerbaijan.
Reflecting on his season, his third in Formula 1 compared with seven for Norris and 11 for Verstappen, Piastri said he “would have wished for a slightly different ending,” but he had “learned a hell of a lot” about himself as a driver and a person.
“If you had presented this season to me at the start of the year, with the pole positions, wins and the podiums, I definitely would have been pretty happy with that,” he said. “Ultimately, there’s disappointment, but I can be very proud of the season I’ve had, and there are plenty of lessons to take to the future.”
Piastri is not expecting next season to be any more difficult because Norris is the champion. “He’s obviously had a great season this year and is a deserving champion,” he said. “But he’s still Lando Norris. It’s not like he’s become Superman.
“I’m expecting full fairness from the team and equality going forward. I don’t have any concerns that will change at all.”
Norris’s success completed the double for McLaren of drivers’ and constructors’ titles for the first time since 1998. It wrapped up the latter with six races to spare and finished 364 points ahead of second-placed Mercedes.
Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, said Norris had evolved as a driver this season after going up against Verstappen last year, when he finished a distant second.
“Lando elevated his status, that he can compete with Max,” Stella said. “This season, there was another important turning point, which is the way he responded to the difficulties we had at the start of the season.
“It was the start of a process that was structured, holistic, involving personal development, his driving, race craft, and it makes me particularly glad he could capitalize on this.”
George Russell of Mercedes was the only other driver to win a Grands Prix this season, in Canada and Singapore, finishing 104 points behind Norris, in fourth place.
Ferrari, second in the constructors’ championship a year ago, 14 points behind McLaren, dropped to fourth, 435 points behind. Hamilton, a seven-time champion who joined Ferrari at the start of the season, failed to win a race for the first time in his 19 years in Formula 1.
Hamilton said that he would disconnect over the winter, that he was “looking forward to not speaking to anyone,” and that his phone would be “going in the bin.” But he still loves racing.
“I’ve got amazing support from the people around me, my fans,” he said. “It’s that constant, keeping an eye on the dream. I still have a dream that I hold hope in my heart for, and that’s what I work towards.”
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