Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Top Three Press Conference

Featuring Top 3: Race winner Max Verstappen (Red Bull); P2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and P3. Lando Norris (McLaren).

Q: Lando Norris, you are a world champion! The world champion!
Lando NORRIS: The world champion. Oh, God. I've not cried in a while. I didn't think I would cry, but I did. It's a long journey. First of all, I want to say a big thanks to my guys, everyone in McLaren, my parents. I'm not crying. My mom, my dad, you know, they're the ones who supported me since the beginning. Oh, I look like a loser!

Q: You look like a winner to me. You're only the 35th man to win a Formula 1 world championship. This is the biggest prize in motor sport.
LN: I mean it feels amazing, you know. Yeah. I now know what Max feels like a little bit and I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors the whole season. It's been a pleasure to race against both of them. It's been an honour. I've learned a lot from both of them as well, so I've enjoyed it. It's been a long year. But we did it. We did it. And I'm so proud of everyone.

Q: Look, it's been an incredible season. It was so tight between you all. You were feisty in that race as well. We were curious to know, would you sit back and not take any risks, but you pulled off some good passes, did what you had to do. How much of that world championship was in your mind when you were running in third and how much is it just in the moment?
LN: It's a bit of both. I mean, you can't not think of it. But anyway, it's a long race to the very end. You know, we've seen many times anything in Formula 1 can happen, and I just kept pushing until the last two or three laps, [then] I could ease it off a bit, but I was still wanting to fight to the end and that's what we did. That's what we had to do this season, you know, with Max chasing us the whole way, with Oscar catching up again at the end. They certainly didn't make my life easy this year. But yeah, I don't know. I'm happy.

Q: Understandably so. And, you know, this is a beautiful moment of winning your first world championship. I don't know if you were aware of a moment — we were — you were under investigation with the overtake on Tsunoda where you went beyond the white lines, and of course nothing came of that. But were you aware of it? Did your team tell you? Because we were all on the edge of our seats.
LN: I had no idea. I had no idea. I didn't care. I mean, I knew what I did was fine so I had nothing to worry about. Yeah. I was just trying to enjoy the moment. You know, there's not many people in the world, not many people in Formula 1 ever get to experience what I've experienced this season and this year. So, I'm happy for everyone. I'm happy for everyone more than me, but yeah, I'm just crazy happy.

Q: That's wonderful to see. We're looking across, we see Zak Brown, we see your parents, your brother, your family, everyone here who's been on this journey with you. So just once again, are you able to compartmentalise — you are the world champion?
LN: I mean, look, it's been a long journey with me and McLaren. I've been with them for like nine years and we've been through plenty of crazy difficult times and plenty of good times, you know. So, for me to feel like I can bring something back to them — it's their first Drivers' in many, many years — so I feel like I did my part for the team this year and I'm very proud of myself for that, but I'm even more proud for everyone that I've hopefully made cry.

Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, honestly, we maximised everything that we could. We put it on pole, and we won the race. And I think also in the race, we had very strong pace. So, there’s really not much that I could have done different. I think what complicated it a bit was that Oscar was on a different strategy. So, you never know, of course, when he then pits, how much pace he has in hand to catch up again. That also complicates a bit trying to keep the pack together or whatever. But, yeah, overall, just very proud again of the weekend that we had. We put it all out there, and, yeah, the car was actually enjoyable to drive.

MV: Yeah. Massive rollercoaster for us. Of course, the first half had some nice moments, but mainly tough moments — some really tough races and feelings. But I’m also very proud of how we never gave up. And, again, that’s also a lesson for the future, for everyone, that even when it looks like you’re out of it, you never give up. You keep working hard to try and understand your issues, and then you never know what can happen.

MV: Winning your first title is something that I think we all dreamt of when you get into the sport. You work for that since you're a little kid. It’s what you dream of. So, when you win your first title, this is very emotional. And, yeah, I hope for Lando as well. You know, I saw a lot of his family is here, so it’s important to enjoy this a lot as well tonight. Also, with his team. I think, again, that’s another story where it showed that even when you have tough years, when you keep working hard, you keep adding good people to the team, you can overcome all of those things, and you can become very successful again. And, yeah, they had an incredible season together, so it’s important that they enjoy it.

Oscar PIASTRI: I think, honestly, pretty good. There wasn’t anything left out there. Obviously, we tried a bit of a gamble on the strategy to give ourselves some different options and hope that the stars aligned to give ourselves the best chance. But ultimately, in the end, that didn’t happen. So, yeah, I think given as well I missed a practice session, it took a little bit to find my feet. I think that was the maximum we could have achieved today. We didn’t have an answer for Max’s pace. So pretty happy with the weekend. Not much more we could have done.

OP: Yeah. I mean, I think, obviously, I would have wished for a slightly different ending, but I think this year I’ve learned a hell of a lot about myself as a race car driver, myself as a person. I think if you had presented this season at the start of the year with the pole positions and the wins and the podiums, I definitely would have been pretty happy with that. And I think even in the tough moments, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I can be stronger in the future. So, I think, ultimately, there’s a little bit of disappointment, obviously, but I think I can be very proud of the season I’ve had and plenty of lessons to take to the future.

OP: I think a very deserving winner. I know that every weekend I go on track, it’s going to be tough. And I think we’ve pushed each other through the last three years. I think especially this season has been tighter than ever. So, yeah, I think he’s had a great season. Probably all three of us, but obviously, myself and Lando in the same team, in the same car, have had our ups and downs at different moments. Ultimately, I think he’s had a good season and a deserving champion.

MV: I had a lot of scenarios in my head, but then, of course, I knew once the tyres Oscar had on the car, that would be quite difficult. I think we were probably a bit too quick up front. The others couldn’t really follow that well. I think Charles drove his heart out today to try and get onto that podium, so that was also impressive to see. But, of course, they went for a two-stop. I think even that made it more complicated because if you stay on a one-stop, backing the whole thing up is tough. And I think this new layout around here makes it even harder to do that compared to 2016 or whatever.

OP: Definitely. I mean, comparing different parts of different people’s careers is always difficult with different cars and stuff. But I think definitely I can be very proud of the season I’ve had. When I look at this season compared to my first two years in F1, this year has been head and shoulders above the first two. Ultimately, whilst the end result is not quite what I wanted, there’s a lot of optimism and a lot of strength that I’ve gained from proving to myself what I can achieve through this season. Those are the kinds of things that are not necessarily tied to results. So I think for me, I can definitely take that forward into the future. It’s only my third attempt at this in F1. Hopefully, I’ve got plenty more to go, but there are definitely lessons from this year that will only make me stronger.

MV: It’s been an emotional year. Forget about the results this year. I also don’t want to go too much into detail, but it’s been tough. But I’m very happy to be able to work with someone that passionate. Of course, he is my race engineer, but I see him as my friend. We have lived through so many emotional things together and fantastic achievements. I’m sure he was a bit emotional after the flag. So, I’m really looking forward to leaving here and catching up with him because it’s not been easy at times for him. I’m just very proud to be able to work with someone that good. A proper example of someone that never gave up this season, even through the difficult times.

OP: Ultimately both, I think. There’ve definitely been lessons directly to do with how I drive the car, how I can be better in different conditions, and just become a better all-round driver. There have also been lessons outside the car — dealing with adversity, dealing with difficult moments. I’ve learned a lot about myself in those kinds of things. So, there have been lessons both in and out of the car that will definitely help me for the future.

OP: Yeah, it’s nice having another summer break. I’m going back to Australia for a little bit, see my family and friends, give my annual hellos and goodbyes. I’m looking forward to some time away from racing, to be honest. It’s been a long, demanding season. As enjoyable as driving the fastest cars in the world is, a break now and again is always a nice thing. So, I’m just looking forward to not thinking about race cars and spending time with people around me. Then obviously, the new season is not far away, so it’s going to be important to enjoy that time off and then come back refreshed with the new challenges for next year.

MV: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I have no regrets about my season. I think the performance has been strong. I've hated this car at times, but I've also loved it at times. And I always tried to extract the most from it, even in the difficult weekends that we’ve had. But, yeah, it's been, like I said before, a proper rollercoaster with the car. Luckily, the last, I would say, eight, nine rounds in general have been a lot more enjoyable. And also, in the team, we have a great atmosphere at the moment. We’re really on a roll — positive energy, belief, confidence — and that’s exactly what you want heading into next year.

MV: I just kept looking on the screen to see if something would pop up. Yeah, I mean, the race itself went really well, and I was just enjoying sitting in the car and driving it. And every straight you keep looking if something happens, but at the same time, that's part of racing. So I was not really too fussed about it.

OP: Oh yes, I am.

OP: Yeah, it was nice that the boys could wrap it up before the race started. Hopefully, I will get to some cricket — ideally Boxing Day, given it’s in Melbourne. I mean, there’s part of me that kind of wants the series to still be alive by that point, and part of me that really doesn’t. So I’ll take whatever we can get. It’s been enjoyable to watch for the last couple of weeks.

OP: I think there are similarities, yes. The emotions you feel are more or less the same. I think what’s different in F1, when I compare it to the junior championships, is the length. The longest junior championship I had was ten rounds. This one has been two and a half times that. The duration you have to live through is much more. My F2 season, for example, was eight rounds., So I think that part is quite different. And I think just the stakes are a little bit different as well. In the junior categories, you obviously want to win the championship, but you’re trying to make your case for why you should be in F1. I think we’ve seen through the years — Max is probably the perfect example — you don’t need to win championships to demonstrate your capabilities for F1. Whereas when you get to F1, there’s nothing more than becoming champion. So that aspect is a bit different, but, yeah, there are also some similarities.

OP: No, I don’t think so. I don’t think that will change anything. For me, he’s obviously had a great season this year and a deserving champion, but he’s still Lando Norris. It’s not like he’s become Superman. So, I don’t think things will change with that. I’m expecting full fairness from the team and equality going forward. I don’t have any concerns that that will change at all. Clearly, Lando’s had a very strong season this year, and ultimately did a better job.

MV: I mean, at the end of the day, of course, it’s always nicer to win it. But, honestly, I’m sitting here now with probably a better feeling than what I had last year at this time because the second half of last year was pretty tricky at times as well. So, we have been struggling for, I would say, a year — the second half of last year and the first half of this year. But I actually feel a lot better now. Of course, shame to miss out on the title, but at the same time, for a long period of time I was not even thinking about the title. I never felt like I was in it until a few rounds ago. That’s pretty crazy. But, yeah, you take your pride in different ways. I’m happy with myself and going into next year I’m not in a state of having to worry about my skills or whatever. So, yeah, I feel good.

OP: I think it is a testament to the way we go racing. Obviously, it’s not easy fighting for both the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship with two very evenly matched drivers. But ultimately, that’s a problem we knew we were going to have. At the end of the day, I think there’s a lot of good things that come from that. Yes, there’s difficult moments and tension at times, but I think both Lando and I have become better drivers from pushing each other to the limit. Sometimes that’s been uncomfortable for everyone, but ultimately, yeah, it’s been a good thing. We’ve had a lot of discussions through the year, and I’m sure we’ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do slightly differently for next year. But I think at the end of the day, they gave us both as good a chance as the team could have to fairly fight for a world championship, and that’s all you can ask for.

MV: You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season. The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come. You’re giving me a stupid grin now. I don’t know. Yeah, it’s part of racing at the end. You live and learn. The championship is one of 24 rounds. I’ve also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half, so you can also question that.