Lando Norris has admitted that the long journey to his maiden championship was far from straightforward as he faced his “fair share of tough moments”, especially in the earlier part of the 24-race season.
The McLaren driver was crowned the 11th British World Champion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he crossed the line in third place, which was enough for him to beat race winner Max Verstappen to the title by just two points.
With his team mate Oscar Piastri also in the mix, there were three contenders in the season finale after the Dutchman battled against McLaren’s initial dominance to mount a remarkable comeback and challenge Norris’ lead.
The trio took one win apiece in the opening three rounds, but it was clear that the Woking outfit had the upper hand as Piastri achieved a strong run of victories, with Norris finishing in second place more often than not.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, with a low point coming in Saudi Arabia – Norris crashed out of Qualifying and went on to finish the race fourth while his team mate inherited the lead in the Standings – while Canada also proved difficult as Norris ran into his team mate, his resulting DNF seeing him lose a large amount of points.
Speaking after he became champion at the Yas Marina Circuit, Norris said: “I found a good rhythm with the car halfway through the season and I feel like I’ve been able to find confidence in myself, in my ability not just to win races but to go and fight for a world championship.
“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.
“More for myself at that point, it was nice to prove myself wrong in a way at times, starting off in Monaco Qualifying and a few moments after that. The second half of the season I’ve really been able to show to myself what I could do, what I was capable of doing.”
His turnaround at the Monaco Grand Prix saw him take a spectacular last-gasp pole position, putting him on track to finish the year with seven poles, seven race wins and 423 points to become McLaren’s first drivers’ champion since Lewis Hamilton back in 2008.
He couldn’t afford to let up at any stage, especially after he reclaimed a narrow championship lead at the Mexico City Grand Prix in commanding fashion, giving him the most to lose in the final rounds.
Norris handled the pressure of having two extremely close rivals who he admitted were “pretty freaking fast and certainly made my life tough”, and he did exactly what was necessary in Abu Dhabi to secure the minimum result for him to take the title.
“Oscar the whole way since Round 1, I knew he was probably going to be the toughest guy to beat and then you can never count out Max – he’s Max,” he explained. “We certainly never counted him out – for anyone who might have done, he proved you wrong.
“I’m glad we kept ourselves on our toes and we were ready for such a thing. It was a pleasure to fight Max, four-time World Champion, so for me to have those fights against him and enjoy those moments, maybe not always enjoy them but some of them.
“But just to share the track and fight against another World Champion like him and certainly Oscar as well, who will be a World Champion. I really enjoyed this season because of that. As much as they made my life hell a lot of the time, those moments I almost enjoyed the most.”
