Lando Norris beat his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to the 2025 F1 world title on Sunday.

Lando Norris sent a heartwarming message to Oscar Piastri after winning the F1 world title (Image: Sky Sports)

Lando Norris sent a heartwarming message to Oscar Piastri after beating his McLaren team-mate to the F1 world title on Sunday. The Briton ended the season two points ahead of Max Verstappen and 13 points clear of Piastri as he clinched the championship for the first time in his career.

Norris went into the season-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the knowledge that a third-place finish would give him the points needed to finish the season at the top of the leaderboard. And he held his nerve to get the job done, with Verstappen winning the race ahead of Piastri. The 26-year-old then celebrated with his parents and girlfriend before attending an afterparty.Norris spoke about his title win during an appearance on Sky Sports’ F1 Show. And discussing Piastri, he exclaimed: “It’s one of those things – you don’t really know what to do.

“I feel bad, I want to give him a hug. I want to acknowledge, I want to give him the respect he deserves. I’m sure everyone does on the outside, give him the respect that he deserves, but I also want to do it, and I think it’s always quite a difficult position to be in.”

Norris leapt above Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship standings at the end of October and clung on to win the title after Verstappen had staged a comeback during the latter stages of the season.

And the champion continued to laud his team-mate as he added: “I know what he’s achieved this year, and how hard it’s been on both sides.

“I just know there are going to be plenty more times where we’re going to have more of these battles. He comes out on top some of the time, I try and come out on top some of the time.

“Yeah, I’ve enjoyed it, I think and I hope he has enjoyed a lot of it. I was pretty disappointed last year that I finished second. We all want to win.”

McLaren star Oscar Piastri finished third in this year’s F1 Drivers’ Championship standings (Image: Getty)

Norris also extolled Verstappen after the Dutchman forced his way back into the title race after finding himself more than 100 points adrift of then-Championship leader Piastri at the end of August.

The four-time champion actually finished the season with one more race victory than the McLaren duo managed and may in fact have taken the honours if he had a few more races to work with at the end of the season.

And Norris explained: “If this season has proved anything – and it’s not from my side – but seeing Max come from 100 points back to where he did at the end, that’s an incredible thing. And he doesn’t need any more respect than what he’s got and any more credit than what he’s got because he’s a multiple world champion.”