Text size

Lando Norris claimed McLaren’s first team title in 26 years on Sunday when he took a quiet and accomplished victory ahead of two Ferrari rivals in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

On an evening of emotion under the lights at the Yas Marina Circuit, as seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton raced from 16th to fourth in his final race with Mercedes, Norris was the epitome of cool as he climbed from his eighth pole position his fourth racing career win.

“It feels incredible,” said the driver born in 1999, a year after McLaren’s last constructors’ title.

“Not for myself, but for the entire team. The team has done a great job this year and progressed from where we were at the beginning. I’m so proud of everyone.”

“It was a nice journey and therefore it is perfect to end the season like this. Congratulations and a big thank you to everyone at McLaren.”

His team boss Zak Brown, who has brought energy and enthusiasm to England’s McLaren, said: “I love everyone in Woking. What a team effort! Amazing, but that was stressful. Worst two hours of my life!”

McLaren won its title by 14 points over Ferrari, whose opponents were finally defeated in a night full of accidents, penalties and tantrums.

McLaren finished the season with 666 points, ahead of Ferrari with 652 and Red Bull with 589. Mercedes was fourth with 468 and Aston Martin was fifth with 94.

“Papaya above!” said Norris as he slowed down in his orange and yellow car.

“Congratulations to everyone. Incredible. I’m so proud of you all. You all deserve this. It was special. Next year will be my year too.”

The 25-year-old Brit finished 5.832 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, ending the Italian team’s hopes of a first title since 2008.

Having not won the team title since 1998, McLaren started the day with a 21-point lead and a front row exclusion, but suffered an early setback when Oscar Piastri went out of contention in a collision with newly crowned four-time champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull in the first corner.

This emboldened Ferrari and they launched a defiant if futile attempt to claim glory, finishing second and third ahead of Hamilton, who overtook teammate George Russell on the final lap.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling today,” said Sainz, who will move to Williams next year when his Ferrari seat is taken over by Hamilton.

“P2 was the maximum we could achieve today given Lando’s pace in the McLaren. I gave it my all.”

Teammate Leclerc, who started 19th on the grid, said: “I knew I had to be aggressive on the first lap to gain as many places as possible, gain positions and be in a good position for the rest of the race .” That was achieved, but we were just too far behind to do anything for the rest of the race.

Russell finished fifth, ahead of Verstappen, who received a 10-second penalty when he collided with Piastri.

Hamilton, 39, marked the end of his 12 years with Mercedes with a thrilling and unforgettable drive from his record-breaking 246th start with the team, spinning his car in a series of “doughnuts” to celebrate at the end.

“Lewis, that was the drive of a world champion,” said team boss Toto Wolff, while the crowd chanted “Lewis, Lewis.”

“What started as a leap of faith, we turned it into making history,” Hamilton told his race engineer Peter “Bono” Bonnington.

Norris got off to a clean start with his eighth pole of the year and took the lead into turn one, where Verstappen attacked Piastri from the inside and touched him, sending both of them into a spin.

Verstappen’s “dive bomb” triggered the comment “Yes, that’s a change of world champion” from Piastri on the McLaren team radio.

Piastri came back 20th and last, but Verstappen slipped to 11th when his teammate Sergio Perez’s miserable season ended with a slip after contact with Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber.

After taking his penalty, Verstappen asked with sarcastic bite: “Could we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots.”

With 20 laps to go, Hamilton’s race engineer Bonnington told his driver for the last time: “Lewis, it’s awesome time.” Hamilton asked about the gap to third place and was told 14 seconds. “You can do it,” agreed his team boss Wolff, before Hamilton overtook Gasly for fifth.

At the front, Norris was the epitome of cool, holding a 5.9 lead over Sainz and mastering his race with distant precision.

str/no/pb