Lando Norris wins Formula 1 World Championship

Credit: Zak Mauger/LAT Images/Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

It was only a matter of time.

Lando Norris is a Formula 1 World Champion.

The British driver was crowned on Sunday after finishing third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Heading into the race, Norris was in a three-way competition for the Drivers' Championship with defending champion Max Verstappen and his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri. He capped off the season two points ahead of the Red Bull Racing driver for his first title.

Norris first joined the F1 grid in 2019 with McLaren. He mostly played a supporting role to Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo until he beat the Australian driver in the 2022 drivers' standings. He got his maiden win last season at the Miami Grand Prix and won his home race at Silverstone for the first time this summer before capturing the top trophy in motorsport.

Norris has been transparent about how his mental health has been important to his journey as a Formula 1 driver. This spring, he turned off social media when he and Piastri were battling at the top of the standings.

Back in 2023, I interviewed Norris for USA TODAY. It was the first season of significant new car regulations and McLaren was looking iffy in preseason testing. But the British driver was feeling "confident" stepping into a leadership role with Piastri joining the team as a rookie and having CEO Zak Brown by his side throughout his journey with McLaren.

Part of our conversation that didn't make the original story is his discussion on mental health.

"It’s something I struggled a lot with in 2018, '19, a little bit into '20 and I’m much better now," Norris said. "I think that’s why I was more happy to talk about it over the last year and two years and so on. Especially because of the amount of support I get from the fans and the amount of messages I get from them saying how much that I’ve helped them in whatever way by speaking up about it."

Norris continued by saying that it's extra important to be transparent about his battles with insecurity and negative thoughts because everyone goes through it.

"Living a very glamorous life and the coolest life can still feel the same way as what a lot of other people do and be normal I guess at the same time," he said. "So that encouraged me to speak up about it a lot more and show my support."

 He said he appreciated the opportunity to partner with McLaren's Mind charity and was hopeful to take away the stigma of talking about mental health.

"It’s something that people are always afraid to speak up about and to talk about," he said, "but I guess I can play a big role and I can encourage a lot of people to open up about it themselves and try to make people feel better. [It] makes me happy if I can do that. So whatever part I can play in doing so by spreading awareness and speaking up about these things, the happier it makes me that I can make people happy."

He also shared how he keeps a balance in life with all the pressures that come from being a Formula 1 driver. He pointed out having well-rounded activities is helpful. He enjoys a good game of golf, and being involved in esports and music. He even tried his hand at deejaying with Kygo at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix.

"I like getting to understand all these things and I meet these people and so on," he said.

He said that staying connected to his people is essential, including his friends in his hometown of London and Monaco, where he currently resides.

"Whatever time I can spend with them is always good time," he said "... Time I can spend with my friends is always very enjoyable and takes my mind away from racing. ... Friends and family is most important."