Under the Abu Dhabi floodlights, as smoke from tyre doughnuts drifted across the track and champagne pooled on the podium, Lando Norris finally let the emotion through, at last a Formula 1 world champion. The 26-year-old who has spent much of his career laughing off nerves and pressure was in tears, wrapped in the arms of his parents, his girlfriend, and a McLaren team that had just carried him to a first Formula 1 world title. Lando sealed the championship with third place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, enough to edge Max Verstappen by just two points and team-mate Oscar Piastri by 13. He becomes Britain’s 11th F1 world champion, and McLaren’s first drivers’ title winner since Lewis Hamilton in 2008, after a season that demanded as much from his head and heart as it did from his right foot

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