F1, Lando Norris in tears after victory: "A maddening joy"

Lando Norris became Formula 1 world champion for the first time in his career.The British McLaren driver kept his cool in the last race of the season and got the points he needed to triumph. At the end of the race he could not hold back his emotion: “Oh my god, we made history. Thank you guys, I love you mom. I’m not crying-I didn’t think I would cry, instead I cry. And I’m proud to make so many people cry-it’s been a long journey and I want to thank the team and my family, who supported me from the beginning. It is a joy to be crazy.”

“I congratulate Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, it has been an honor and I have learned so much from both of them. It was a long year but we made it. What did I think about during the race? I tried not to think about it, it was a very long race, I knew it was going to be long, anything can always happen in F1, I tried to raise the pace at the end, I wanted to fight until the end. I’m too happy. The investigation into overtaking Tsunoda? I wasn’t worried, I knew what I had done was correct. It’s been a long journey with McLaren, we’ve been together for many years, we’ve been through very difficult times, but now we’ve made it.”

“It’s been a long journey with McLaren, I’ve been with them for nine years and we’ve been through many difficult times and many good times. It’s been a great achievement for me to bring something back to them, and it’s their first drivers’ title in many, many years, so I feel I’ve done my part for the team this year and I’m very proud of myself for that. I’m even more proud for everyone that I hope I’ve brought to tears.” Norris reversed his fortunes over the course of the season, after a not-so-positive first half of the year. “I was able to catch up, get ahead of the pack, and put in the performances we needed to win.”

“My best performances came when things didn’t go the way we hoped,” the Briton pointed out.