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It was all too much for Lando Norris.
With tears streaming down his face, Norris’ childhood dream came true on Sunday when he was crowned F1 World Drivers’ Champion.
The 26-year-old British driver needed a third-place finish at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and was third where he crossed the line – behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Pastry – to win the title.
Norris became the 35th different driver in F1’s 75-year history to win the championship.
He also became the eighth with the mighty McLaren to achieve the feat and the first since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
After opening 2025 with a win at the Australian Grand Prix, Norris held the championship lead through the first four races of the season until Piastri took over.
McLaren’s “Papaia Rules” dictated that the team would not favor one driver over another as long as they were both in contention, even when Norris collided with Pastry during the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Suffering a chassis problem at the Dutch Grand Prix on the last weekend of August, Norris was alone on the beach in a pit as his title hopes also seemed to go up in smoke, 34 points clear of Piastri.
Norris bounced back to close the gap and, with a dip in form from Piastre, he managed to regain the points lead with a win in Mexico City, followed by a second win in Sao Paulo for extra insurance.
“My best performances this year came when I needed them the most,” Norris told 2009 world champion Jenson Button during the Sky Sports broadcast. “The second half of the season, when I was a little bit on the back foot, that’s when I did my best, and that’s when I showed a lot of me. It helped me get the space that I needed to perform and what I needed to do today. …
“I’ve got my whole family here, my girlfriend here, I’ve got a lot of people here, so I hate to embarrass them on this day, so I’m proud.”
Back-to-back disastrous weeks for McLaren in Las Vegas (double disqualification for overboard wear) and Qatar (a mistake not calling both drivers to pit under the safety car) put four-time reigning world champion Verstappen back into the title picture and a three-way battle heading into the season finale.
Verstappen qualified on pole position with Norris right next to him in second and Pastry third.
Norris did not fight as Pastry swooped during the first lap, but he would need to be practically perfect for the remaining 57, as he could not afford to drop second.
He soon came under pressure from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who tried to use a boost from the Drag Reduction System (DRS), to no avail.
After his first pit stop, Norris found himself stuck in traffic – behind Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stoll and Liam Lawson – but within a few laps, he managed to overtake them.
That left Yuki Tsunoda, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, as the only remaining obstacle.
Sonoda pulled a Kimi Raikkonen, saying on the team radio that he knew what he needed to do, in which case apparently all the tracks had to do was to maintain the position and prevent Norris from passing him.
Norris needed to clear the course to pass Sonoda, who received a five-second time penalty for making multiple turns to defend his position.
Although Norris was also investigated for leaving the track, no further action was taken, and rightly so, considering that he had nowhere else to go.
Norris was now clear to take home third place. Although it looked like Leclerc might pose a threat, as he was on the medium tire compared to Norris on the hard seat, the Ferrari ended up finishing 6.7 seconds behind the McLaren.
Norris completed his 152nd start with McLaren – more than any other driver for the team – in his seventh season. His early days with McLaren were tiring, but both the team and the driver trusted each other. Norris signed contract extensions in 2022 and 2024, despite outside interest, and his loyalty has been rewarded with a world championship.
“It’s not just this year, it’s been over the last, what, seven, eight, years with McLaren, the last 16, 17 years of my life, trying to chase this dream,” Norris told Button. “Today we all did it, so I’m very happy.”
Close but no cigar for Verstappen
One hundred and four points. That’s how far Verstappen is in the championship following his home Dutch Grand Prix four months ago. His hopes of a fifth consecutive world championship appear to be over, but Verstappen has no doubts.
His second-place result at Zandvoort kicked off a nine-race podium streak, with six wins, including three straight to end the season.
Unfortunately for Verstappen, it wasn’t enough as he finished just two points clear of Norris.
Verstappen finished the season with eight points, one more than Norris, and if they had been tied in the points, the tie would have ended and given the Dutch driver a fifth title.
Although Verstappen’s reign as world champion has come to an end, he believes Norris worked for him, and that only adds to his legend as a generational talent.
With a 24-race season from March to December, there are sure to be moments when you look back and think: What if?
How about the Italian GP at Monza in September, as McLaren broke Norris’ pit stop, allowing Pastry to overtake his teammate for second. McLaren asked Piastre to hand the place back to Norris, forcing the Australian driver to a three-point gap.
Last Sunday’s Qatar was also PP, as Antonelli made a mistake on the final lap, allowing Norris to finish fourth, a difference of two points.
(Sidenote: The Red Bull team apologized for hinting on the radio that Antonelli had let Norris go, but the damage was already done as the rookie driver received death threats from online trolls.)
They are the only two that stand out that can change things differently.
What is the future of Hamilton?
Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari has come to an end – and a good one, as it has been a painful year for the seven-time world champion and 105-time race winner.
A winning driver joining a winning team, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, the dream team has had a dream, with zero wins and zero podiums. Yes, Hamilton won the sprint in China, but his weekend turned into a dime, as he was disqualified from the actual race for wearing too much placards.
Hamilton’s season was summed up this weekend as he crashed out in the first stage of qualifying for the third straight race (four if you include the Qatar Sprint) and had to work his way through the field to salvage eighth place.
Antonelli, who had big shoes to fill from Hamilton to Mercedes, returned just six points in his rookie season, with three podiums.
Sainz, who was the odd man out at Ferrari with Hamilton’s arrival, managed to make it onto the podium twice with the Medfield Williams team.
Part of it is the car, as Leclerc also became useless. However, the Monegasque driver scored seven podiums and finished 86 points ahead of Hamilton.
This is not the end for 40-year-old Hamilton, and next year’s regulations could change fortunes for Ferrari. It can’t get any worse, right?
A 10th-place spin ended up snapping an eight-race goalless streak.
The Montreal driver had a strong start to the season, with a sixth place result in Australia, but it was all downhill from there as he finished the year in 16th with 33 points, tied with Sonoda. Stoll hasn’t finished this low in the standings since his sophomore season with Williams in 2018.
By comparison, Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso finished 10th overall with 56 points.
The rotation seat is safe, and next season offers big changes for Aston Martin that, for his sake, could turn things around.
Such a long ground impact period and DRS, we hardly knew. New rules, new engines and a new team highlight what’s to come in 2026.
There are many variables in the coming year. Red Bull is switching from Honda to Ford as a partner on its in-house power units. Verstappen will also have a new teammate in Isaac Hajar, who earned a promotion after a good rookie season with sibling team Racing Bulls.
In addition, Honda has now tied up with Aston Martin, as the team aims to take a step towards contender status. Adrian Newey, who helped design championship-winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, joins Aston Martin in a team principal role for the first time.
Saber is now an Audi factory team. Cadillac will become the 11th team on the grid, with veteran drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez returning to the field. Alpine, which moved to the basement this season, will no longer produce its own power units and will include McLaren and Williams as Mercedes customers.
Will familiar faces make it, or will there be a changing of the guard? We just have to wait until the season opener in Australia. Say, is it March yet?
