By holding off main competitor Ferrari in the season’s last race, McLaren secured the Formula 1 manufacturers’ title on Sunday for the first time in almost 25 years.
Lando Norris’s resounding lights-to-flag victory in Abu Dhabi gave the legendary British team its first championship since Mika H. Kinen, a former McLaren driver, won one of his two driver’s titles in 1998.
Congratulations to all of you! Amazing. Bravo to all of you. I’m really proud of everyone. After taking the checkered flag, Norris exclaimed over team radio, “You all deserve this.” It will also be my year next year.
It was also a victory for McLaren’s cheerful and media-friendly American CEO, Zak Brown, who took over the team’s transformation from a struggling midfield squad in 2018. In addition to bragging rights, the constructors’ trophy comes with hefty quantities of highly sought-after prize money.
“What a fantastic team effort,” Brown exclaimed during the ESPN and Sky Sports broadcast. Fantastic! It was a tense situation.
In the post-race interview, Norris joked, “Zak and I are going to get hammered tonight.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished second and third in the race, respectively, but the double podium wasn’t sufficient. Ferrari’s two drivers needed to lead McLaren’s two drivers by a minimum of 21 points going into the season finale. Since 2008, the Italian squad has not taken home a championship.
After Oscar Piastri, McLaren’s other driver, tangled with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in the first circuit and spun around, resulting in a 10-second penalty for the Red Bull driver, the team’s smooth 1-2 start on the grid instantly deteriorated into pandemonium.
Sainz, however, finished in second place after slipping behind Norris early on. After receiving a grid penalty for using more power unit components than he was supposed to, Leclerc began the race in 19th place and surged all the way up to sixth place in just the first ten circuits.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!