After seven seasons and over 150 races, Lando Norris won his first-ever World Drivers’ Championship title, marking McLaren’s first win since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. In the 3-way title fight that emerged in the final races of the season, Norris held on to his lead in the standings to secure his win.

Norris had to finish in P3 or better at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to secure a win, and did exactly that. Following a pit stop on lap 17, Norris found himself in traffic and had to pass several drivers, including his Red Bull Racing teammate, Max Verstappen, and Yuki Tsunoda. This was make-or-break for Norris, and after this adversity, he maintained P3 until the end of the race.

Driver	Pre-Weekend Total	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Total
Lando Norris	408	+12	423
Max Verstappen	396	+25	421
Oscar Piastri	392	+18	410

A margin of two points makes this one of the closest tile fights after many years of dominance from Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris’ road to the title was not without incident. Let’s take a closer look at some key moments this season that helped and hindered his Championship.

Australian Grand Prix and early difficulties

Lando Norris secured a win in the first Grand Prix of the season. The Australian Grand Prix was a chaotic race marked by heavy rain and the deployment of three safety cars. Norris did not run a perfect race, but he managed to hold off Max Verstappen for the win and avoided an incident in a treacherous opening race.

However, his championship hopes became vulnerable almost immediately, with Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen claiming victory at the next six races.

At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Norris qualified in P6 and finished just three places higher. He faced additional troubles at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after crashing in the final qualifying session and finishing P4. He gave up his lead in the standings to Oscar Piastri, who held it until November.

Big wins in Monaco, Austria, and Silverstone

After the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, it appeared Lando Norris would find himself out of contention by the end of the season. However, as the season’s midpoint approached, Norris’ performances reached a new peak.

At the Monaco Grand Prix, Norris had a successful qualifying and secured pole position, setting up his win the following day, and closing the gap on Piastri to just three points.

Norris also secured victories at the Austrian Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix. The latter was an especially notable win, with Norris taking his home race for the first time despite a red flag incident, two safety cars, and treacherous wet weather conditions. Oscar Piastri also served a 10-second penalty at the British Grand Prix for breaking under a safety car restart, which allowed Norris to come within eight points of his teammate in the title fight.

Papaya rules, questionable strategy, and McLaren dynamics

A slew of errors made by the McLaren drivers began to bring Max Verstappen back into title contention, after being almost 100 points back in the midseason.

McLaren’s approach to team orders was a major talking point, as the team made a series of decisions that seemed to favour Norris over Piastri. At the Italian Grand Prix, Piastri was instructed to let Norris pass after a slow pit stop put him behind. Tensions reached another boiling point at the Singapore Grand Prix when Norris made a risky move over Piastri and gained a position that he was allowed to keep.

Lando Norris’ season hit one of its lowest points at the Dutch Grand Prix, after he spotted smoke from his car and was forced to retire. The drama didn’t end there. After finishing the Las Vegas Grand Prix in P1, both McLarens were also disqualified following the race for a technical regulation breach. No points at both races, botched race strategy, and a dip in form from Piastri allowed Verstappen to claw his way back into the title fight.

P3 for the win

With two races left in the season, Lando Norris needed to secure third or better in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to emerge victorious in the championship. P3 was his magic number, and despite two races that did not go perfectly, Norris did enough to achieve it.

When asked about what this championship meant to him, Norris shared:

“I’ve certainly had some fortune this year but I’ve certainly had a fair share of tough moments–especially at the beginning, [there was] a lot I struggled with and lost a little bit of belief early in the season…

“It feels amazing. Now I know what Max feels like a little bit, and I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors all season. It’s been a pleasure to race against both of them, and I’ve learnt a lot from both of them as well.

“I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been a long year but we did it and I’m so proud of everyone.”

It was far from perfect, but Lando Norris got the job done. Amidst the bright moments and mistakes along the way, Lando Norris has forever cemented himself in Formula One history.