YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi — Max Verstappen did all he could do in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
But the Dutchman’s eighth victory of the season and third straight to end the season wasn’t enough to steal the Formula 1 world championship from Lando Norris. With Norris finishing third, he kept Verstappen from winning a fifth world championship by a mere two points.
Verstappen, who was 104 points behind Norris after the Dutch Grand Prix in August, was proud of his Red Bull team’s stretch drive that came up just short.
“From our side, at least we optimized the weekend perfectly – we put it on pole, we won the race in I think dominant fashion, so there is nothing really that you can say about that,” Verstappen said.
“At the end of course, then you lose the championship by two points [and it] looks painful, but on the other hand, if you look from where we were in Zandvoort, more than 100 behind, then I think it’s not too bad.”
Verstappen said he enjoyed the final segment of the season and Sunday’s race.
“I don’t think that’s how this team works. We always try to look for improvements and understand our issues, and that’s definitely what we did. The turnaround has been fun, and today has been fun,” Verstappen said. “We didn’t win the championship, OK, that happens, that’s life, and it’s not something that I’ll be too sad about. I mean, life goes on.
“I’m just very proud of the people I work with, they are my second family, and we will enjoy this moment. We will enjoy the second half of the season, be proud of that, and next year is going to be a big question mark for everyone anyway.”
Verstappen started from the pole with Norris alongside.
A bold move from Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri demoted Norris to third on the opening lap, before attacks from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, a spell in traffic after his first pit stop and a wheel-to-wheel moment with the other Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda put the Briton under pressure.
Norris, though, dealt with everything that was thrown at him to cross the line in third and clinch the title over Verstappen and Piastri, who both delivered flawless races en route to the win and second position, respectively.
Piastri, who led the first half of the season, finished third in the standings, 13 points behind the new champion.
A spirited Leclerc wound up fourth, some seven seconds behind Norris, followed by the lead Mercedes of George Russell, the high-flying Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, and the squabbling Haas and Ferrari cars of Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton.
