The final race of the season has played out under the setting sun of Abu Dhabi once again and has brought with it a new world champion. Lando Norris managed to clinch the title at the last possible moment. In the three-way battle, with four time world champion Max Verstappen and his team mate Oscar Piastri, Norris was able to put his Mclaren on the final podium spot in third and accumulating a total of two more points than the Dutchman, embedding his name in the sport’s history.
The race itself was rather uneventful, after a spectacular start from Verstappen, where he managed to move up into first place, he led the race comfortably. No safety cars were deployed so the two McLarens were unable to undercut the RedBull. Paistri also managed to move up a spot on the opening lap and kept that second place until the end of the race. Sadly for him it was pretty clear that he would no longer be a title contender unless Norris and Verstappen were to both magically DNF. Max Verstappen saw his chance at a fifth consecutive title fade away when it became clear that Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was not going to be able to keep up with Norris and potentially overtake him. Had he managed to do so, Verstappen would have been crowned the winner.
All 20 drivers managed to finish the final Grand Prix, although many of them were given time penalties due to erratic driving and driving off track. This came due to heavy wind that would push the cars further out than intended.
The celebrations for Norris’s first ever world championship title were surprisingly very tame. Especially when comparing it to the height of emotions from the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which was the last time a championship was decided in the last race of the season. Many claim Verstappen to be the real winner of this year’s competition, as he managed to come back after a horrible start to the year with a bad car and internal issues at Red Bull regarding their Ex-CEO and Team Principle, Christian Horner. The fact that the final divide between first and second place is only two points highlights Verstappen’s ability and finesse in the car. Mclaren truly was the team with everything to lose last night and you could tell they were shaken up by how close they actually were to not having both championships under their belts.
This is McLaren’s first drivers championship title since 2008, when Lewis Hamilton won on the last lap of the Brazil Grand Prix. against Felipe Massa. Suffice it to say that McLaren enjoy a rollercoaster ride of emotions if they are going to win a title and this year was no different.
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We will revive this segment of the blog in February, when pre-season testing and car launches resume.
Featured image designed on Canva
