Lando Norris fully deserves to be crowned Formula 1 world champion – even if a small but vocal section of fans say he doesn’t.
He becomes the 35th driver to earn the honour, the 11th Brit and the first for McLaren since Sir Lewis Hamilton back in 2008.
But even with a good advantage going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there were plenty who doubted he would emerge victorious against Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri.
Bernie Ecclestone suggested he was ‘cocky’, others that he wasn’t bullish enough, that he lacked the bottle. And after being overtaken by Piastri on the opening lap at Yas Marina, they may well have had a point.
But ultimately, the 26-year-old did what he needed to do. He crossed the finishing line in third-place, pipping Verstappen to the post by just two points.
The gap should matter not. Winning is winning after all. Yet, there are some who will forever point to the Italian Grand Prix in September as the defining moment of the title race.
Norris was on course for second-place in Monza when a botched pitstop allowed teammate Piastri to pass him off track. McLaren told Piastri to give the position back and the Australian reluctantly obliged.
As a result, Norris gained three points. Had that not happened, Verstappen could be celebrating equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of five-consecutive titles.
It is for this reason – and this reason alone – that a portion of supporters believe Norris has been gift-wrapped the championship, accusations of bias toward the Brit even being raised by Australian politicians.
Admirable as it was for McLaren to want the championship decided on the track, the swap probably shouldn’t have happened. Mistakes from pit crews are part of racing after all.
Sadly, the papaya team have made a rod for Norris’ back.The incident will forever be raised when his title win is discussed, just as Verstappen’s epic triumph over Hamilton in 2021 is forever tainted by Michael Masi making up the rules as he went along.
F1 fans don’t forgive and forget so easily.
Here’s the thing. Should Verstappen have won the title in 2021? Perhaps not. Did he deserve to win? 100 per cent. He drove amazingly throughout the year and something that happened out of his control can never diminish that.
And the same applies for Norris. His seven wins and 18 podiums across 24 races is proof of that. Look to his epic victory at Silverstone, his flawless weekend in Brazil and the season opener in Melbourne when he mastered torrential conditions.
Verstappen would have been a worthy champion too. He is the best driver on the grid no doubt and won the most races this year. Coming from over 100 points behind and surviving the turmoil of Christian Horner’s mid-season sacking deserves all the plaudits it can get.
Piastri too had earned the crown. He lead the championship for so long and will no doubt learn from the mistakes that contributed to his end of year slump. It is hard to remember that this was only the 24-year-old’s third season in the sport.
In any case, Norris is still one of the most popular drivers on the grid and has learnt to shut out the negative outside noise, quitting social media and laughing off jeering grandstands.
He won’t care one bit if people say he was handed the title. And even if he did, he knows exactly how to silence the critics: Just keep winning.
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