F1 Takeaways: Norris achieves dream becoming world champion

It was all too much for Lando Norris.

With tears streaming down his face, Norris’s boyhood dream came true Sunday as he was crowned the F1 world drivers’ champion.

The 26-year-old British driver needed to finish third in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and third was where he crossed the line — behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri — to clinch the title.

Norris became the 35th different driver to win the championship in the 75-year history of F1.

He also became the eighth to accomplish the feat with mighty McLaren and first since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

After opening 2025 with a victory at the Australian Grand Prix, Norris held the championship lead through the first four races of the season until Piastri surged to the top.

McLaren’s “papaya rules” dictated that the team wouldn’t favour one driver over the other as long as they were both in contention, even after Norris crashed into Piastri during the late stages of the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

A chassis issue at the Dutch Grand Prix during the final weekend of August had Norris beached all alone in a dune, as his title hopes also appeared to be going up in smoke, 34 points adrift of Piastri.

Norris bounced back to close the gap and, with a dip in form from Piastri, he managed to retake the points lead with a win in Mexico City, followed by another victory in Sao Paulo for added 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 it’s when I showed the most of me. I managed to get the gap I needed to perform and do 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 would hate to embarrass them on a day like today, so I’m proud.”

Back-to-back disastrous weekends for McLaren in Las Vegas (double disqualification for excessive plank wear) and Qatar (a mistake not calling in both drivers to pit under the safety car) brought 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 beside him in second and Piastri in third.

Norris didn’t put up a fight as Piastri swooped by during the first lap, but he would need to be practically perfect for the remaining 57, as he couldn’t afford to drop another place.

He faced pressure early from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who attempted to use the boost from the drag reduction system (DRS) to no avail.

After making his first pit stop, Norris found himself stuck in traffic — behind Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson — but within a couple of laps, he managed to pick them off.

That left Yuki Tsunoda, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, as the only obstacle remaining.

Tsunoda pulled a Kimi Raikkonen, saying on the team radio he knew what he needed to do, which in this case apparently meant weaving all over the track to hold position and block Norris from getting past him.

Norris needed to veer off the course to pass Tsunoda, who received a five-second time penalty for making more than one change of direction to defend his position.

Although Norris was also investigated for leaving the track, no further action was taken, and rightfully so, considering he had nowhere else to go.

Norris was now in the clear to take home third place. Although it looked like Leclerc may pose a threat, being that he was on the medium tires compared to Norris on the hard set, the Ferrari faded, finishing 6.7 seconds back of 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 lean, but both team and driver put faith into 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 of being with McLaren, for the last 16, 17 years of my life, trying to chase this dream,” Norris told Button. “Today we all did it, so I’m pretty happy.”

Close but no cigar for Verstappen

One hundred and four points. That’s how far back Verstappen was in the championship four months ago following his home Dutch Grand Prix. His hopes of a fifth consecutive world championship seemed like they had faded, but there’s no doubting Verstappen.

His second-place result at Zandvoort kick-started a nine-race podium streak, with six wins, including three straight to end the season.

Unfortunately for Verstappen, it wasn’t enough as he ended up just two points back of Norris.

Verstappen finished the season with eight wins, one more than Norris, and had they been tied in points, that would have broken the tie and handed a fifth title to the Dutch driver.

Although Verstappen’s reign as world champion has come to an end, he sure made Norris work for it, and it just adds to his legend as a generational talent.

With a 24-race season stretching from March to December, there’s sure to be a few moments when you look back and think: What if?

How about the Italian GP at Monza in September, as McLaren fumbled Norris’s pitstop, allowing Piastri to overtake his teammate for second. McLaren asked Piastri to give the place back to Norris, which the Australian driver obliged, a difference of three points.

There was also last Sunday’s Qatar GP, as Antonelli made a mistake on the final lap, allowing Norris to overtake him to finish fourth, a difference of two points.

(Sidenote: Red Bull apologized for implying on the team radio that Antonelli had let Norris through, but the damage had already been done as the rookie driver received death threats from online trolls.)

Those are just two that stand out that could have swung things differently.

What does Hamilton’s future hold?

Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari has come to a close — and good riddance, as it’s been a miserable year for the seven-time world champion and 105-time race winner.

The winningest driver joining the winningest team, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, the dream team has been a nightmare, with zero wins and zero podiums. Yes, Hamilton won the sprint in China, but his weekend turned on a dime as he was disqualified from the actual race for excessive plank wear.

This weekend summed up Hamilton’s season as he was eliminated in the first stage of qualifying for the third straight race (four if you add the Qatar sprint) and had to work his way through the field to salvage eighth place.

Antonelli, who had big shoes to fill taking over from Hamilton at Mercedes, finished just six points back in his rookie season, with three podiums.

Sainz, who was the odd man out at Ferrari with Hamilton’s arrival, managed to make it on the podium twice with the midfield Williams team.

Part of it is the car, as Leclerc went winless as well. However, the Monegasque driver scored seven podiums and finished 86 points ahead of Hamilton.

This isn’t the end for the 40-year-old Hamilton, and next year’s regulations could bring a change in fortune for Ferrari. It can’t get any worse, right?

Stroll finished in 10th place to snap an eight-race pointless 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 ended the year in 16th with 33 points, tied with Tsunoda. Stroll hasn’t finished that low in the standings since his sophomore season with Williams back in 2018.

By comparison, Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso finished 10th overall with 56 points.

Stroll’s seat is safe, and next season offers big changes for Aston Martin that, for his sake, could turn things around.

So long ground effect era and DRS, we hardly knew ye. New regulations, new engines and a new team highlight what’s to come for 2026.

There are a lot of variables heading into next year. Red Bull is switching from Honda to Ford as partners on its in-house power units. Verstappen will also have a new teammate in Isack Hadjar, who earned a promotion after a fine rookie season with sibling team Racing Bulls.

Meanwhile, Honda has now linked up with Aston Martin, as that team aims to take a step toward contending status. Adrian Newey, who helped design championship-winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, moves up into the team principal role with Aston Martin for the first time.

Sauber is now the 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 slipped to the basement this season, will no longer produce its own power units and joins McLaren and Williams as Mercedes customers. 

Will the familiar faces figure it out, or will there be a changing of the guard? We’ll just have to wait until the season-opener in Australia. Say, is it March yet?