‘I look like a loser’ – Emotional Lando Norris reacts to becoming World Champion

Lando Norris joked he looked “like a loser” as he struggled to hold back tears following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Briton may only have come third but secured enough points to prevent Max Verstappen from pipping him to the title.

Lando Norris reacts to becoming an F1 World Champion

Norris entered the final race of the season with a 12-point lead and as the heavy favourite for a maiden World Championship but not everything was so straightforward when his team-mate Oscar Piastri overtook him in lap one.

That left Norris just one spot from trouble and although Charles Leclerc threatened, the McLaren driver ultimately held on for his first world title.

Norris was emotional even as he drove the car home but after stopping to speak to David Coulthard, he could not hold back the tears.

“Oh God, I’ve not cried in a while,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d cry, but I did. It’s a long journey.

“First of all, I want to say a big thanks to my guys, everyone at McLaren, my parents, my mom, my dad. They’re the ones who supported me since the beginning.”

Norris then caught a glimpse of himself on the TV screen to which he said: “I look like a loser.”

“It feels amazing. I now know what Max feels like a little bit and 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 of them as well. So I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a long year, but we did it and I’m so proud of everyone.”

Asked for this thoughts on the race, Norris said he took nothing for granted and knew he would have to battle until the end.

“You can’t not think of it,” he said of the title. “But it’s a long race to the very end. We’ve seen many times anything in Formula 1 can happen and I just kept pushing until the last two or three laps. I could ease it off a bit, but I still wanted to fight till the end, and that’s what we did. It’s all we had to do this season for Max, chasing us the whole way, for Oscar, catching up again at the end. They certainly did make my life easy this year.”

There was a slight scare when Norris was noted by race control for going off the track to overtake Yuki Tsunoda but he was spared any punishment as the stewards deemed the Red Bull driver had moved twice under braking.

“I had no idea,” he said of the incident and any potential repercussions. “I didn’t care. I knew what I did was fine, so I had nothing to worry about.

“I was just trying to enjoy the moment. Not many people in the world, not many people in Formula 1 ever get to experience what I’ve experienced this season and this year so I’m happy for everyone. I’m happy for everyone more than me but I’m just crazy happy.

“It’s been a long journey with McLaren. I’ve been with them for nine years. We’ve been through plenty of crazy, difficult times and plenty of good times. So for me to feel like I can bring something back to them. It’s their first Drivers’ in many, many many years, so I feel like I did my part for the team this year and I’m very proud of myself for that, but I’m even more proud for everyone that I hopefully made cry.”

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