Norris earns ‘1’

The lights at Yas Marina invariably have a way of making everything look cleaner. From a distance, Lando Norris’ title-clinching run over the weekend carried that same polished sheen: third in the race and first in final standings with a nominally tight two-point margin. Up close, though, the year that delivered McLaren its first world champion since 2008 was anything but pristine. It exposed frayed nerves, brought internal skirmishes to the fore, and shone the light on self-doubt.

Inevitability was most certainly not on Norris’ mind early on. Although he opened the season with pace, winning in Australia and compiling podium finishes in seemingly sustainable manner, dominance eluded him. His ride was quick, but not untouchable. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri kept finding ways to unsettle him while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lurked, and both racked up enough points to threaten the status quo. And when retirement was foisted on him in Zandvoort, his campaign was already one of near-misses wrapped in bright papaya. By then, he faced a 34-point deficit that betrayed his lack of consistency.

To be sure, much of the turbulence came from Norris’ own camp. McLaren’s double disqualification in Las Vegas replaced the cushion he had with the dread of a story of collapse often told in Formula One annals. Qatar added a strategic misread that would have rattled a more unsure driver. In his case, however, he greeted each stumble with composure. Creditably, panic never surfaced. Believing in himself and fully committing to his cause, he steadied the garage and made a late-season push to provide direction to his otherwise-fraying campaign.

And so the finale took shape with narrative symmetry: Verstappen winning the race, Piastri charging at the lights, Norris pinned in the middle with everything to lose and nothing to spare. His spirited defense against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc highlighted the steel that lined his self-effacing veneer. His deft navigation through pit-cycle traffic, steady moves made sans flourish, remarkable restraint amid tantalizing but risky and ultimately wrong battles reflected maturity. When he crossed the line third, he didn’t punch the air so much as have a sigh of relief.

Now that the moment has settled into the sport’s storied past, what remains is Norris’ imprint on his title run. He did not overwhelm the field; he outlasted it. He proved sturdier and sharper than even he thought, and, most importantly, composed enough to withstand the weight of all expectations. And, if nothing else, he earned the “1” that will be on his car next year.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.