Lando Norris admits ‘a bit too chaotic’ worry ahead of Abu Dhabi finale

Lando Norris admitted he thought the build-up to the title decider in Abu Dhabi “would be a bit too chaotic for me”, but when he climbed into the car, it was “just another day in the office.”

Norris headed into the final weekend of the season knowing that a podium finish would be enough to secure a first World Championship, and he duly drove for what was necessary by taking third place to earn the title by two points from Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris: ‘I didn’t know how I was meant to be’ before Abu Dhabi showdown

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Norris, along with McLaren CEO Zak Brown, are set to recap Norris’ season’s journey with McLaren at an event at the famous Hammersmith Apollo in London in February, but took to his YouTube channel to release a vlog ahead of the FIA’s Prize Giving Gala in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

He admitted not knowing how to act in the week building up to the race, with the knowledge of more eyes than usual being upon him, as the championship leader.

On top of that, he added that time felt like it slowed heading into the closing stages, with the human reaction of wondering what might go wrong as he approached his ultimate goal in Formula 1.

Despite everything, though, he felt “very calm” once he was behind the wheel.

“The week leading up to the biggest race of my life, I didn’t know how to be,” Norris said.

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“I didn’t know how to act, I didn’t know how I was meant to be. I didn’t know if I was, like, meant to be really excited. I thought I’d be pretty damn nervous, because I do – I mean, I get nervous every race, every qualifying, always, that’s a normal thing.

“I thought it would be a bit too chaotic for me. But in fact, getting in the car, I actually felt pretty ready. I felt very calm, just another day in the office.

“I felt ready. I still knew in my head, this is it and the time had come.

“Felt like a normal race – genuinely felt like a normal race, but two laps to go, and then time starts to slow down a little bit, you start thinking of every little screw, every bolt, every wire.

“I’m imagining inside my car, what everything is doing. You’re in that moment of, ‘Damn, what could go wrong? Because everything’s going right’, your mind starts thinking of these little things.”

Norris explained how his mind wandered to thoughts of his rise through the motorsport ranks, racing in every different category he had faced while still looking to keep all four tyres on the road in Abu Dhabi.

Heading under the Yas Hotel on the final tour, though, that is when his mind turned to his family and the enormity of his achievement.

“All of a sudden, I pictured my mum in the garage,” he added.

“That was the first time, the first moment the whole year, I just about started to realise what was happening, what was about to happen – and all I did was kind of picture the garage, picture my parents there, my brother, my sisters, all in the garage for the final four corners.

“I came around the last corner and, again, then that next step of emotion starts to kick in, and realisation of what’s happening the last 18 years all led to this one moment.”

Norris will kick off his title defence in Melbourne in March, running with the number 1 emblazoned on his car in Formula 1 for the first time.

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