Norris reflects on final-lap flashbacks and title after-party

After becoming Formula

- Giles Richards

One world champion for the first time, Lando Norris revealed that he had enjoyed the final moments of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday by considering all the moments that had brought him to the pinnacle of the sport.Norris was speaking the day after he won the world championship by taking third place at the Yas Marina circuit. His title rival Max Verstappen won the race but fell short of Norris by two points. The fight remained tight to the decisive last round with Norris’s McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, who had led the championship fora large part of the season, also in the mix for the final race but who ultimately finished third.

“It was like a movie,” the 26-year-old said. “As much as I was trying to avoid every bump possible I was also remembering all of those moments from the very beginning, driving a go-kart for the first time ever, my first time on the track ina go-kart, the races I had, the karting world championship I won in 2014 and many different memories.

“I was watching me. I was living it but I was also watching me drive around from a bird’s-eye view and this wasall within the space ofacou-ple of minutes, through to the last seven years of McLaren and the good and bad moments of the season.”