ABU DHABI, Dec 8 — McLaren's Lando Norris sobbed tears of joy and relief as he won the Formula One championship for the first time and ended Max Verstappen's four-year reign with a nervy third place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last night.
Red Bull's Verstappen, whose eighth triumph of the campaign was one more than the new champion managed, won the season-ender with McLaren's Oscar Piastri runner-up and 12.5 seconds behind at the chequered flag.
Norris, Britain's 11th Formula One world champion at the age of 26 and McLaren's eighth since 1974, took his points tally to 423 with Verstappen on 421 and Piastri third with 410.
"Thank you guys," he gasped over the team radio. "You have made my dreams come true."
McLaren, who secured the constructors' championship in October for the second year in a row, won both titles in the same season for the first time since 1998.
"I've not cried in a while. I didn't think I would cry but I did," an emotional Norris said in the post-race interview, after also shedding tears inside his helmet on the slowing down lap around the floodlit Yas Marina circuit.
"It feels amazing. I now know what Max feels like a little bit.
"I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors the whole season. It's been a pleasure to race against both of them. It's been an honour, I've learned a lot from both," he added.
No five titles in a row for Verstappen
Norris's mother Cisca gave Piastri a consoling hug while both Verstappen and the Australian congratulated McLaren's first champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008 in a show of sportsmanship.
The victory denied Verstappen five titles in a row, a feat only Ferrari great Michael Schumacher has managed to date.
"The way we fought back in the second half of the season, we can be really, really proud of that," said the Dutch driver, who was 104 points behind then-leader Piastri at the end of August, over the radio to his team.
"So, don't be too disappointed. I'm definitely not disappointed. I'm really proud of everyone for not giving up."
Charles Leclerc finished fourth in Sunday's race for Ferrari with George Russell fifth for Mercedes and Fernando Alonso sixth for Aston Martin.
Esteban Ocon was seventh for Haas, ahead of Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton — who failed to stand on the podium all year in a career low for the 40-year-old who joined the Italian team this year from Mercedes.
Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg was ninth in the German's 250th race, and after starting 18th, with Lance Stroll 10th for Aston Martin.
Mercedes ended the season second overall, with Red Bull third and Ferrari fourth.
Said Norris: "It's not just this year or the last seven or eight years I've been with McLaren, but the last 16 or 17 years of my life trying to chase this dream. Today we all did it, so I'm pretty happy."
He is the 35th different world champion since 1950.
