The last race in the Formula 1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, took place on Dec 7. and secured Lando Norris his first ever World Drivers’ Championship. Norris appeared strong even before the race, finishing first in two of the three practice rounds and coming second in the third and qualifiers. While he only finished third in the final competitive race behind Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, his podium finish gave him the points required to finish first for the overall season.

Norris has had a phenomenal year, with 17 podium finishes out of the 21 races in the season with seven of those being first place finishes. While he was leading all drivers in points for much of the season including going into Abu Dhabi, there was still a possibility for Verstappen or Piastri to surpass Norris. In the end, even with his third place position, Norris only had two more points total than Verstappen.

Piastri also seemed unstoppable this year, with an equally impressive seven first place finishes and a streak of three first places in early spring, with the Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami Grand Prix. Piastri and Norris both drive for McLaren which, through their athletic domination, had an impressive season finishing with over 400 more points than the team in second place. 

McLaren is widely considered as having the fastest car in the league, likely due to their extremely low set composite skid block, or plank. The plank was so low that the team was disqualified earlier this year at the Las Vegas Grand Prix for having a plank that was 0.07mm too short after wear. 

Just hours after the race finished it was announced that Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, would no longer be racing for Red Bull and would instead be demoted to a position as a reserve driver. Tsunoda’s first year for Red Bull was overall disappointing, finishing 17th in the rankings and being removed from one of the most competitive teams in Formula 1. Though the result did not come as a surprise to fans. 

On Sunday, Tsunoda received a five second time violation for excessive defensive maneuvers against Norris, likely in an effort to help push his teammate Verstappen to first place. While a rather silly theory has started online that Tsunoda was removed personally by Verstappen for being unable to properly stop Norris from placing third, it likely holds no water.