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Norris left nervous after Piastri's spin in Abu Dhabi: 'Wasn't very nice'
Lando Norris was in the lead when a glance at the trackside TV screens showed an unexpected sight—his teammate being spun around by Max Verstappen. Speaking after the Grand Prix, the McLaren driver admitted the moment made him a bit uneasy, knowing the constructors' title hung in the balance.
McLaren and Ferrari battled for the constructor's title at the final Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri started from first and second on the grid, respectively. At the first corner, Piastri was tapped by Max Verstappen after the Dutchman attempted to overtake him, leaving the Australian at the back.
Norris felt the tension rising in Abu Dhabi:
Even though he was in the midst of a historic battle for his team, Norris still took the time to look up at the TV screens, seeing the incident for himself. "I was watching the TV screens, and I saw Charles was P8 after lap one. I was a little bit nervous, but I knew I just had to focus on myself and put my head down. Carlos was never far away. I think the biggest I got the gap was to like 4.2 seconds in the first stint, and that's not a very nice gap, in my opinion. It's a bit too close for my comfort."
The stakes were high for McLaren. There was an opportunity to win their first constructors title since 1998. Norris focused on the job at hand despite the pressure behind him. "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. 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," he explained in the post-race press conference.
Norris: 'We'll celebrate together'
In the end, McLaren managed to clinch the championship by 14 points despite Oscar Piastri's bad race. After the Australian was hit, he ran into the back of Williams Franco Colapinto and received a 10-second time penalty. He worked his way back up to finish in 10th place. "A shame for Oscar, we really wanted to have a one-two today and finish and let McLaren be on top today as a team in a race, but also for the championship. I felt quite bad for him in the beginning. It wasn't his fault. But he's had a great year. So we'll all celebrate Together. I certainly am. And I'll have some fun." He concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden
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