ABU DHABI (dpa-AFX) – In a crazy three-fight final, Lando Norris was crowned Formula 1 world champion for the first time. Despite the attack of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and the confident victory of defending champion Max Verstappen at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Norris saved a lead of just two points in the standings to the finish.
Third place behind Verstappen and Piastri was enough for the 26-year-old to win the first drivers’ title of his career; he is the 35th champion in the history of the premier motorsport class. Hollywood actress Ana de Armas waved off the thriller with the checkered flag.
Norris ended Red Bull star Verstappen’s world championship era, which began at the Yas Marina Circuit in 2021. The 28-year-old Dutchman had actually already given up the World Cup fight this year, but ultimately narrowly missed out on his fifth triumph in a row with his eighth win of the season – one more than Norris. If Norris had only finished fourth, Verstappen would have been the champion again.
Three title candidates, three guys
There was high tension the entire weekend. Here is the calm and aggressive defending champion, who was in first place after being 104 points behind at the end of August and had nothing to lose from his list of successes. Since the two stable rivals Norris and Piastri had a lot to lose. Formula 1 had not experienced such a three-fight finale since 2010, when Sebastian Vettel raced from third place overall to the world title in the Red Bull.
Norris made dealing openly with weaknesses and fears socially acceptable in Formula 1 and said of himself that he wanted to show that you can become world champion even without a killer instinct. A guy who appeals to young target groups, someone who likes to laugh very clearly, but also someone who talks openly about doubts and fears. When asked how he slept the night before the most important race of his career, he replied: “Surprisingly well. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for our whole lives.”
In contrast to Norris, Verstappen knows these moments in abundance. For some, he is perhaps the most complete racing driver Formula 1 has ever seen. Trimmed by father Jos, who was behind the wheel of a rally in Africa at the same time as the finale. He was also blessed with the racing genes of his mother, once an excellent kart driver, who wasn’t in Abu Dhabi either, but was looking after the dogs. “You trust your son,” Max Verstappen said and grinned.
Going into the first corner with McLaren team orders?
And then there were the Australians who were so strong and cool for a long time in the World Cup. Piastri won seven races by the end of August, led the rankings and seemed unshakable. But then the break-in came. No more victory in a Grand Prix, most recently in Qatar the increase in performance and success in the sprint. “The belief is still there, but a few things have to go my way,” he said just before the final 306.183 kilometers of racing of this season, which began on March 16 in Piastri’s hometown of Melbourne with a win for Norris.
And in contrast to his two rivals, he started off on the hardest tire compound, Verstappen and Norris on the medium compound. That also meant: Piastri would come in later for his first tire change.
At 5:03 p.m. local time the red lights went out for the last time this season. Verstappen secured pole with a fantastic lap, Norris came second in qualifying and Piastri third. Papa Norris hugged his son again. It only helped to a limited extent. Verstappen defended first place and he didn’t have to take it either.
The team rival goes full attack
But Piastri immediately applied pressure. The Australian, whose manager Mark Webber was one of the World Cup losers against Vettel in 2010, took full battle line. Was that what the team bosses intended? Piastri pulled through and overtook Norris on the outside. He wasn’t really surprised, claimed McLaren’s managing director Zak Brown on Sky Sports UK. Interim conclusion after the nervous start: “So far, so good, not comfortable.”
Verstappen’s teammate risks crashing into Norris
Third place would be enough for Norris to win the title, but Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was pushing from behind for a while. The Monegasque, who has been chasing the title in vain for years, didn’t get close enough to overtake. On lap 17, Norris went to the pit stop: 2.1 seconds and the new tires were on. That was quick. He returned to the track in ninth place and quickly made up positions before falling behind Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Like Piastri, the Red Bull strategy department around Hannah Schmitz had the Japanese rider put on tough tires at the beginning. “I know what I have to do, leave me alone,” the Japanese radioed to the pits, annoyed. When Norris wanted to overtake, Tsunoda completely overexcited. He drove left and right, almost pushing Norris into the grass. The penalty followed quickly: In his last race for Red Bull he was given a five-second penalty.
What role Norris’ teammate played in the end
McLaren left Piastri further out with the hard tires, but Verstappen got closer and closer – despite the tire change. The Australian should put more pressure on the medium tires at the end of the race. Norris came to change tires for the second time – McLaren reacted to Leclerc’s pit stop. Almost at the same time, Verstappen overtook Piastri, meaning the Australian was virtually out of the World Championship race. But he didn’t give up and asked the pits how they wanted to win the race.
The question was: Would Piastri be asked by the box to let Norris pass for safety? Verstappen had so much time to ask whether Leclerc would still be able to get to the Brit. The Monegasse could no longer do that and Norris crossed the finish line as the new world champion after 58 laps./jmx/DP/zb