For only the 12th time in Formula 1 history, we had a three-way battle heading into the final race of the season. Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri had won seven Grands Prix each and all would have emerged as a worthy World Champion. Equally, they all had their own shoulda-woulda-coulda stories from this season.
In the end, Norris did what he needed to do by securing third and with it, his place in the history books as the 35th F1 World Champion, while Verstappen ended the year with his reputation as the best driver currently in F1 firmly in tact, underlined by the fact he had the most victories and laps led this season.
The evolution of Lando over the seven years that he has been in F1 has been really interesting to watch. He arrived in the sport with a good reputation from his junior formula career, having been at the sharp end of Formula 3 and Formula 2. He spent several years with the Carlin Motorsport team and I remember Trevor Carlin saying to me that there was no doubt he had the speed to be competitive in Formula 1.
