Max Verstappen wins but not enough, Lando Norris F1 world champion

Lando Norris has been crowned Formula 1 world champion. The British driver in Abu Dhabi finished third in the last race of the season behind teammate Oscar Piastri, second, and a never tame Max Verstappen. The defending champion scored his eighth win of the season, but it wasn&#8217t enough to confirm his rainbow status. Charles Leclerc, fourth, tried in the early stages to trouble the McLaren driver, who, however, handled the situation well in the remainder of the Gp, bringing home the podium he knew would be enough in any case to win the drivers’ title.

Verstappen at the start made the gap immediately, while behind the McLarens took care first of all not to cause any accidents. As had been guessed on Friday and Saturday, Ferrari and Mercedes did not have the pace to challenge the single-seaters of the team that had already been sure of the constructors’ title for some time, and as the laps went by the situation stabilized, despite a few attempts to change strategy at pit stops. The fine performance of Fernando Alonso, sixth and in a tussle with Leclerc in the first third of the race, should also be emphasized. Some timid signs of recovery for Lewis Hamilton, who finished in eighth, between the two Haas of Ocon and Bearman.

This is the’order of arrival:
1 Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing
2 Oscar Piastri – McLaren – +12.594
3 Lando Norris – McLaren – +16.572
4 Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – +23.279
5 George Russell – Mercedes – +48.280
6 Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – +67.652
7 Esteban Ocon – Haas F1 Team – +69.398
8 Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – +72.077
9 Oliver Bearman – Haas F1 Team – +73.531
10 Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – +73.872
11 Gabriel Bortoleto – Kick Sauber – +79.222
12 Nico Hülkenberg – Kick Sauber – +79.084
13 Carlos Sainz – Williams – +80.627
14 Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull Racing – +82.845
15 Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – +83.237
16 Alexander Albon – Williams – +84.607
17 Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls – 1 L
18 Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls – 1 L
19 Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 1 L
20 Franco Colapinto – Alpine – 1 L

Here is the final ranking of the drivers’ world championship:

1 Lando Norris – McLaren – 423
2 Max Verstappen – Red Bull – 421
3 Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 410
4 George Russell – Mercedes – 319
5 Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 242
6 Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – 156
7 Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – 150
8 Alexander Albon – Williams – 73
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Williams – 64
10 Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – 56
11 Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls – 51
12 Nico Hülkenberg – Kick Sauber – 49
13 Oliver Bearman – Haas – 43
14 Liam Lawson – Red Bull / Racing Bulls – 38
15 Esteban Ocon – Haas – 38
16 Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls / Red Bull – 33
17 Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – 33
18 Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 22
19 Gabriel Bortoleto – Kick Sauber – 19
20 Franco Colapinto – Alpine – 0
21 Jack Doohan – Alpine – 0