Champagne supernovas

British drivers won three world titles this year – and it was so nearly four.

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FORMULA1

Two points: that's how close Max Verstappen came to equalling Michael Schumacher's feat of winning five consecutive Formula 1 world championships, despite having fallen more than 100 points behind in the summer.

Instead, 26-year-old Lando Norris did just enough to become Britain's 11th F1 king and McLaren's first since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. A tactical and cool-headed third place in the Abu Dhabi finale sealed the deal as Red Bull's man charged to his eighth win of the season - one more than both Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri - and third in as many weeks. In the MCL39, Norris had the fastest F1 car of the season, as highlighted by how comfortably McLaren cantered to a second consecutive constructors' crown. But still there was nothing easy about this title triumph. Norris faced not only one of the greatest drivers in history in Verstappen but also a steely internal threat from Piastri, who was by far the better driver through the first half of the season.

As Norris reflected in the wake of securing his crown, he had been forced to overcome doubts in his self-belief in those opening months of the campaign. But having driven into his teammate in Canada and then endured a devastating mechanical retirement in the Netherlands, he showed his mental resilience to work his way back into the hunt. Norris made up the 34-point deficit that had opened up to Piastri, who conversely endured a poor run of results through the autumn. Victory in Mexico edged him back ahead in the points, and from there he never looked back. Well, not at Piastri, at any rate.