Abu Dhabi UFC: New Champion Crowned

ABU DHABI – British racer Lando Norris won his first title in Formula 1 at McLaren. Third place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was enough for him.

The race was won by Dutchman Max Verstappen on Red Bull, who thus became vice-champion with a loss of two points. Second on Sunday was Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri from Australia – he finished third overall, 13 points behind the champion.

Twenty-six-year-old Norris became the 35th world champion in history and the first with McLaren since 2008, when record holder Lewis Hamilton achieved overall victory with the team. The traditional team also won the Constructors’ Cup this year and won the first double since 1998.

“Papajaví” clearly had the upper hand among the teams all season, and their fight for the equestrian title also looked clear. In the fall, however, the unremarkable streak of the then leader Piastri came and the final race decided the champion. Interestingly, Verstappen missed out on the title despite having the most wins of any driver in the season (8).

The final order of the race was essentially decided in the first lap, when Verstappen, starting from pole position, immediately covered Norris, who he overtook on the outside in the ninth corner of Piastre. However, he was unable to get closer to Verstappen, while Norris, on the other hand, was close to losing his position in favor of the fourth Leclerc. The Ferrari pilot was in the DRS zone several times and it looked as if the Brit had problems with the battery, which he was also charging on the straights.

However, the later champion kept his position and McLaren covered the Monaco with two pit stops. Verstappen did not have significant complications on his way to victory, his teammate Cunoda tried to slow down Norris after the first pit stop on the back straight, but ended up with a five-second penalty. Lawson from Racing Bulls, the junior team of Red Bull, also started a fight with the Briton.

Piastri was on an alternative strategy, starting on hard tires while his title rivals were on the medium hard compound. The Australian was waiting for the eventual exit of the safety car and only went to his mechanic on the 41st lap. However, the accident did not occur, all drivers finished the race and Verstappen passed him before Piastri’s single pit stop.

Russell finished in fifth place in Mercedes, who did not hide his ambition to fight for the win, but in the end he did not get the start and had to work with the sixth veteran Alonso in Aston Martin. The best performance since May was the seventh Ocon on Haas, and after an unsuccessful qualifying, he took four points behind eighth place Hamilton.

The ninth Stroll on Aston Martin scored the first points since August, and the good form at the end of the season was confirmed by Bearman on Haas with one championship point. Sunday’s race was also the last with the DRS overtaking system, which will not be part of single-seaters after next year’s rule change.

• Author: © List/
• Source: TASR