Lando Norris crowned F1 world champion after fending off Max Verstappen ...Middle East

Lando Norris held his nerve to seal his maiden world F1 title, despite Max Verstappen winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old finished third to world championship the title by two points despite losing a place to his team-mate Oscar Piastri on the first lap of the race.

Norris is the 11th Brit to win the world title but only the third this century after Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen meanwhile was trying to win his fifth title in a row and drove the perfect race, winning from pole position, but it was all for naught as Norris safely navigated 58 laps of the Yas Marina Circuit.

A crucial overtake for Lando as he clears Yuki pic.twitter.com/pZWhFKURpb

“It’s a long journey,” said a tearful Norris after embracing his parents and engineers trackside.

“It feels amazing. I now know what Max feels like, a little bit!

“I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a long year, but we did it and I’m so proud of everyone.”

For Norris, 12 points ahead before lights out, the equation was simple: finish on the podium and nothing else would matter. Verstappen meanwhile said he planned to win the race and hope for “a bit of luck” behind him, dropping the Brit into fourth.

Red Bull tried to load the dice by putting Verstappen’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, starting 10th, on the hard tyre at the start in the hope that he might present a speed bump for Norris when he made his pit stop.

The absolute worst-case scenario would have been McLaren blue-on-blue damage, but both papaya drivers gave each other acres of space as Piastri rounded his team-mate at Turn 5 on the opening lap.

Norris did not put up much fight, knowing third was still good enough.

But it put Norris at risk of being overhauled by Charles Leclerc, and his mirrors were full of the bright red Ferrari for the first 10 laps.

Crucially though, the Monegasque never quite got close enough to effect the overtake, and Norris inched out of DRS range.

LIGHTS OUT IN ABU DHABI Oscar Piastri PASSES Lando Norris to claim second place! pic.twitter.com/5xTvjPI0cD

Tsunoda’s part in the piece came 10 laps later after Norris had pitted for fresh rubber, and the Japanese driver pushed the rules to their very limits to hold him up, forcing him to take all four tyres off the racetrack on the back straight.

The stewards investigated both men, penalising Tsunoda for moving too much and not Norris for reacting by leaving the racetrack. At a venue where Verstappen had already won one title controversially – see 2021 – the FIA probably breathed a sigh of relief that the stewards decided not to play a pivotal role in this finale.

Piastri’s slim hopes of the title all but faded as Verstappen disappeared at the front of the race, and all eyes turned to whether Leclerc could spoil the party by catching back up to Norris. An overtake would force McLaren to ask Piastri to fall on his sword and let his team-mate through. He surely would, wouldn’t he?

As it was, McLaren never had to perform the ultimate test of loyalty, with Norris holding off the charging Ferrari of Leclerc.

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