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lando norris Marked his first Formula One World Championship win with a lavish afterparty that lasted until the early hours, culminating in a less glamorous McDonald’s breakfast.
The British driver, who became only the 11th UK driver to clinch an F1 title, celebrated until 6am before asking for some fast food.
The 26-year-old’s historic night took place at the W Hotel overlooking the Yas Marina Circuit, where just hours earlier, she had realized a childhood dream.
Videos broadcast from the festival show Norris celebrating his success, surrounded by friends and family, singing solos to Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions’ and Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’.
Recalling the end of his celebratory night, Norris revealed: “6 o’clock in the morning, and then a little McDonald’s. I really wanted some Chicken McNuggets but it was morning so they didn’t have any left.”
He settled for a less-than-ideal option. “I had a Sausage McMuffin. Was it the breakfast of champions? Definitely not. I immediately regretted it.”
Norris holds on in season-finale to secure championship Abu DhabiFinished third in the race.
This result was enough to end Max Verstappen’s dominance of four consecutive World Championships, with Norris ultimately finishing just two points ahead after a tough 24-round campaign.
Reflecting on the final moments of Sunday’s 58-lap race, Norris described an almost out-of-body experience.
“It was like a movie,” he said. “As much as I was trying to avoid every possible collision, I was also remembering all those moments, right from the beginning, driving a go-kart for the first time, my first time on the track in a go-kart, the races I did, the karting world championship I won in 2014, and many different memories.”
He added: “I was watching myself, I was living it, but I was also watching myself driving around from a bird’s eye view – and all of this was within a matter of minutes – over the course of the last seven years. mclaren And the good and bad moments of this season.”
Initially, the magnitude of the moment was not fully registered. “I didn’t know what to expect. And with three rounds left, I thought, ‘I’m getting pretty close, and I don’t feel anything yet.’ I thought, ‘Would this mean a lot to me?'”
Then, the emotional floodgates opened. “Then on the next lap, I started having these nice flashbacks. It was a montage of my life, and going under the bridge for the last time, and imagining my mom in the garage, and it made me a little emotional.”
However, the real climax came at the finish line. “But the best memory was when I came around the last corner, and it’s from my view now, my eyes are inside my visor, coming around, and seeing the checkered flag, and the moment of being able to pick it up and cry. I want to save that moment because that was ‘it’ moment.”
Norris admitted that he rarely gets emotional and also wondered how other champions celebrate.
“I don’t get this emotional over anything and before the weekend I was like, ‘Do I need to watch a video on how to celebrate a world championship?’
He thought about Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton but ultimately decided against it. “In the end I couldn’t do it. And what happened was I felt it and it was all in that moment and it made it extra special.”
Despite the huge achievement, Norris, who will return to his McLaren for Pirelli tire testing in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, insists the title will not change his core identity.
He concluded: “Outwardly it will change my life, but it won’t change me, and how I live it. I really hope it doesn’t happen anyway. I don’t want to be that kind of person.
“It’s nice that people will now say I’m a world champion, and my name is on an incredible list of other drivers, but it doesn’t change who I am and that’s the most important thing.”