After leading the F1 championship standings for most of the season, it was a bittersweet finale in Abu Dhabi for Oscar Piastri, who fell short in becoming World Champion by two points, with that title going to teammate Lando Norris.
The Aussie began third on the grid behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris and initially led the race in 1st position, but race rival Verstappen snatched the lead from Piastri after he took a pit stop.
Meanwhile, the race wasn’t easy for Norris, as the Brit endured challenges, including Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc closing in on him right at the start, which threatened to disrupt his momentum. Additionally, a close wheel-to-wheel encounter with Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda also gave Norris some stress at the Yas Marina Circuit.
But Norris was lucky not to get penalised as all four wheels went off track. Moreover, an investigation was conducted with stewards agreeing that Tsunoda was to blame, giving him a five-second penalty.
“I managed to get through pretty quickly, and it was a bit close,” Norris pointed out about the incident. “And it’s crazy thinking about it, because they do think about it straight away. You’re like, ‘Damn, if that was five centimeters closer, it’s over.’ And that’s when you get to the end of the race — three laps to go, four laps to go — I stopped taking any kerbs because I’m like, if that just makes one piece of the car undo itself, it’s over.”
Despite Norris celebrating with glory, it was a different scene for Piastri, who was left reflecting on what could have been a perfect season for him. Piastri conceded that he didn’t have the pace to win the race and that he put everything into winning.
“We gave it everything. We tried a bit of a gamble on strategy. Tried absolutely everything to try and win the race and give ourselves the best chance to win the championship, but ultimately we didn’t have the pace today,” Piastri said.
While Norris won the title, the Brit became emotional after the race, expressing his thoughts and paying tributes to his family and McLaren team, as well as acknowledging the challenge his two biggest rivals this season, Max Verstappen and teammate Piastri, gave.
“I’ve not cried in a while. I didn’t think I’d cry, but I did,” the 26-year-old highlighted. “It’s a long journey. First of all I want to say a big thanks to my guys, everyone at McLaren. My parents… I’m not crying. My mum, my dad they were the ones who supported me since the beginning.
“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.”
A dream for every F1 driver, Norris said that becoming a World Champion has been a big dream for him for a long time.
“I’ve dreamed of this for a long time; everyone does. A lot goes into a season like this, lot of ups, lot of downs, but none of that matters as long as you try and come out on top, and that’s what we managed to do with an incredible team.
“All the boys and girls that I’ve enjoyed so many moments with. It’s not just this year, it’s been over the last seven, eight years I’ve been with McLaren. The last 16, 17 years of my life, I’ve been trying to chase this dream, and today we all did it, so I’m pretty happy.”
The race in Abu Dhabi was the last for the season, with the drivers now set to rest with the season kicking off again in March at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Featured Image: Lando Norris at the British GP back in 2022. Image by Jen Ross/CC/ Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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