YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi — Lando Norris said he started to shake in the final corners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Third place in Sunday’s race at Yas Marina was enough to beat race winner Verstappen by two points in the championship.
Norris had been favourite coming into the contest, having already missed an opportunity to wrap up the title at last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
The Englishman managed a tense race without putting a foot wrong, admitting the magnitude of the situation only hit him as he neared the chequered flag.
“I did feel calm,” Norris said on Sunday evening. “I felt calm until three corners to go. I started to shake a little bit. I got to think of all those incredible memories. Very quickly. And then I got to see the team.
“And I went over the line. And this is a moment that I’ll never forget.”
Norris sat on his own in a special press conference for F1’s newest world champion.
Asked how to describe the feeling, he chuckled.
“I just laugh. It’s tough to describe, it’s tough to put in words,” he said. “I just want to go and spend some time with my team. My engineers, my mum and my dad. I don’t know what I’m going to say.
“So much goes into achieving what we’ve achieved today. From all those years ago, when I saw Formula 1 on the TV, when I saw a go-kart for the first time. You know, my memories of the last couple of laps were just that.
“It took me back to where it all started. Because I wouldn’t be here without my parents, the sacrifice they’ve done. My brother, my sisters, the amount of times they text me, I don’t get back to them. You know, just everything. Everything that leads into achieving what we’ve all achieved today.
“This is not my World Championship, this is ours. This is one I get to say thank you mum and thank you dad. They’re the ones who sacrificed so much to let me be the lucky boy that I am today.”
Norris’ championship challenge had looked to be on rocky ground in August after his McLaren failed at the end of the Dutch Grand Prix.
That result saw him drop 34 points behind McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who was the wildcard third contender in this weekend’s contest.
He said he felt a sense of shared achievement with his McLaren team, who gave Norris his F1 debut in 2019, but also a sense of sticking to his principles to win.
“I feel proud,” he said. “I don’t feel proud because I’m going to wake up tomorrow and go I beat everyone. I’m not proud because I get to just say I’m a world champion. I’m proud because I feel like I made a lot of other people happy.
“I made my engineer, Will [Joseph]. You know, like Jarv [Andrew Jarvis, performance engineer] as well. They don’t get to see their family much.
“They’ve seen me grow up more than they’ve seen their own kids grow up. I feel bad about that. The fact that they put so much effort into making me perform and helping us all perform.
“The fact I get to make them feel like their time has been hopefully a little bit worth it. That’s what makes me so happy. I hope it doesn’t.
“I really hope it doesn’t change anything I do. The way I think. The way I do things.
“I believe I won the championship this year my way. By being a fair driver. By trying to be an honest driver.”
