Despite Max Verstappen winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Norris’s third-place finish was enough to secure the championship by two points.
Lando Norris is the new Formula One world champion after finishing third at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, completing a tense final race that decided the title by the smallest margin. Max Verstappen won the race and Oscar Piastri came second, but Norris’s result was enough for him to take the championship by just two points.
Norris, 26, crossed the line overwhelmed with emotion, breaking down in tears as he secured the first world title of his career. The win also ended McLaren’s long wait for a drivers’ championship, their first since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
The result marked the end of a long and difficult season that stretched across 24 races. Norris entered the final round with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen, knowing a top-three finish would be enough even if his rivals finished ahead. He delivered exactly that, showing calm driving and clean overtakes in a high-pressure race.
Earlier setbacks this year, including a retirement in the Dutch Grand Prix and a difficult weekend in Las Vegas had threatened his title run, but Norris recovered with strong results in the final races. His fourth-place finish in Qatar, where he overtook Kimi Antonelli late in the race, proved to be one of the moments that ultimately secured the title.
Piastri, who led the championship for a large part of the season, pushed hard in Abu Dhabi but could not close the gap in the final races. Verstappen also mounted a strong challenge, climbing back from more than 100 points behind earlier in the year, but his win on Sunday was not enough to overturn Norris’s lead.
For Norris, the championship marks a major milestone in his seventh season in Formula One. It also reflects McLaren’s comeback after years of difficulty, guided by the leadership of Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella.
While Norris celebrated the biggest victory of his career, Lewis Hamilton’s season ended in frustration. The seven-time world champion finished eighth in Abu Dhabi and ended his first year at Ferrari without a single podium finish.
Norris’s title is the first for a British driver since Hamilton in 2020, and it signals a generational shift in Formula One as new contenders rise to the top of the sport.
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