Norris reveals ‘nervous’ moment F1 title looked in doubt

Lando Norris has stated Charles Leclerc’s rapid opening stint in Abu Dhabi left him nervous over McLaren’s title chances.

Leclerc started the race from 19th on the grid but quickly made his way into the points during the opening laps.

McLaren was left fighting one-handed with Norris as team-mate Oscar Piastri was spun around by Max Verstappen at the first corner.

Leclerc eventually climbed into third place behind Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, but Norris’ victory was enough to seal the championship for McLaren.

However, that did not stop the Briton from worrying about the prospect of being overtaken by one of the Ferrari cars, which would have swung the title back in the Italian squad’s favour.

“Yeah, I was watching the TV screens and I saw Charles was P8 after lap one, so I was a little bit nervous,” Norris told media including RacingNews365.

“But I knew I just had to focus on myself, put my head down, and Carlos was never far away. I think the biggest I got the gap to was 4.2 seconds in the first stint, and that’s not a very nice gap in my opinion. It’s a bit too close to my comfort.

“So it was still a tricky race, and I’m sure there were probably a lot more nervous people on the pit wall and in the garage, knowing what was at stake and things, and I’ve got the adrenaline of the car and focused on that.

“For them, they’re just sitting and watching the screens, and they have a lot more time to think about what can go wrong and all of that.”

Piastri recovered to 10th place with the fastest lap after enduring a difficult final race.

Norris asserted it did not take away from the strong effort the Australian driver produced throughout his second season in F1.

“A shame for Oscar,” he said. “We really wanted to have a one-two and let McLaren be on top as a team in a race, but also for a championship and I felt quite bad for him in the beginning.

“It wasn’t his fault. But he’s had a great year.”