Lando Norris makes F1 title decider admission in emotional vlog

Lando Norris has reflected on winning the F1 world championship and “the best day of his life” in a video uploaded to his own YouTube channel.

The McLaren driver finished third in a tense season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December to clinch his maiden F1 world championship ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri.

In his first Vlog since becoming world champion for the first time, Norris admitted he thought the F1 title decider would be “a bit too chaotic” for him.

"The week leading up to the biggest race of my life. I didn't know how to feel, I didn't know how to act, I didn't know how I was meant to be,” the 26-year-old Briton said.

"I didn't know if I was meant to be really excited or not or scared.

"I thought I'd be pretty damn nervous, because I do get nervous every race, every qualifying, always. That's a normal thing.

"I thought it would be a bit too chaotic, but in fact, getting in the car, I actually felt pretty ready. I felt very calm. Just another day in the office. I felt ready.

"I still knew in my head, this is it, and the time had come.”

Norris opened up about his mindset in the final few laps, revealing his concerns and emotions as time appeared to slow down inside the cockpit of his McLaren MCL39.

"Felt like a normal race, genuinely felt like a normal race,” he explained. “But two laps to go, and then time starts to slow down a little bit. You start thinking of every little screw, every bolt, every wire. I'm imagining inside my car what everything is doing.

”You're in that moment of, 'damn what could go wrong 'cause everything's going right'. Your mind starts thinking of these little things. I just started thinking of my first day in a go-kart. I was on a kind of mini tennis court and we put some slicks on the go-kart and I was just doing some donuts and having some fun…

“All of a sudden, I pictured my mom in the garage. That was the first time, the first moment the whole year I just about started to realise what was happening - what was about to happen. And all I did was picture the garage, picture my parents there, my brother, my sisters, all in the garage for the final four corners."

Norris thanked his fans for their support in an emotional message ahead of the moment he finally got his hands on the F1 drivers’ world championship trophy at the FIA’s prize-giving gala in Uzbekistan.

“One final thank you goes, in some ways, to the most important people,” he concluded. “All the people watching this and all the LandoLogs over the years.

“You’ve been on this journey with me. You’ve made it incredibly special, you’ve made it even more memorable. We’ve celebrated many good times together, created many memories together.

“Thank you very much, it’s been a pleasure to represent you and do my best for you every single weekend. Thanks for being there for me. I’ll go lift the trophy while I’m thinking of everyone that’s been part of this journey together.”