Norris holds nerve to end McLaren's long wait for team title

The wait has been long and torturous for McLaren, but by the close of a victory for Lando Norris at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it was worth it as the team celebrated their first Formula One constructors' championship for 26 years—opening perhaps a new era for them, just as another came to an end for Lewis Hamilton.

- Giles Richards

The emotional import of the moment was writ large at McLaren, but no less for a visibly moved Hamilton, who finished his career at Mercedes with an exceptional comeback drive from 16th to fourth, bowing out with the same determined panache that has secured him unprecedented success with the team.

McLaren had not won the constructors' title since 1998—which, to put in perspective, was before both their drivers, Norris and Oscar Piastri, were born—and they sank to a nadir of finishing ninth in 2015 and 2017, a return from which was far from guaranteed. Yet as the fireworks lit the sky in Abu Dhabi yesterday, this unlikely resurgence was a reality after a grueling, gripping season in which the team delivered beyond expectations.

The papaya-clad personnel bounced and sang, quaffing champagne with abandon in the garage, gripped by a collective ecstasy they have not had a chance to enjoy since Hamilton won the drivers' championship for them in 2008, the last title silverware they collected. In Abu Dhabi, it fell to Norris to stand up when it mattered after what was a tense finale where he had to do the job to beat rivals Ferrari on his own from pole after Piastri was all but removed from the fight on the first lap, hit by Max Verstappen.