“I've not cried in a while!” said Lando after climbing from his title-winning MCL39. He had clambered into it at the start of the day a title contender, he now arose from it a World Champion.

“I didn't think I'd cry, but I did. It's a long journey… a long journey. First of all, I want to say a big thanks to everyone at McLaren and to my parents…. my Mum, my Dad, they're the ones who supported me since the beginning.”

Unsurprisingly, it was an emotional evening at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Lando secured the third place he needed to become the 2025 Formula 1 World Champion. He had executed a calm race in the most nerve-wracking circumstances, and there were, naturally, a fair few tears on the cooldown lap. He had concluded a spectacular campaign, becoming only the 35th F1 Drivers’ World Champion. 

It was a season that had seen him start with victory in Australia, clinch landmark maiden wins around the streets of Monaco, and on home soil in Britain, and cap off a trophy-laden campaign in style with a podium in Abu Dhabi, as he became McLaren’s 13th World Champion. There’s been seven Grand Prix victories, 18 podiums – the most in a single season by a McLaren driver – and seven Pole positions.

“There aren't many people in the world, not many people in Formula 1, who ever get to experience what I've experienced this season and this year, so I'm happy for everyone,” said Lando. “I'm happy for everyone more than I am for me, but I'm crazy happy. It’s pretty surreal! I dreamt of this for a long, long time - everyone does. A lot goes into a season like this, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, but none of that matters as long as you come out on top.”

Lando entered Sunday’s Grand Prix 12 points clear of reigning Champion Max Verstappen, and 16 clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri. He claimed a spot on the front row of the starting grid, behind only Verstappen, and with Oscar lining up in third position.

All three got away cleanly off the line, but as Verstappen raced off into the distance, Oscar darted ahead of Lando, who pulled off a bold move halfway around the lap. As Oscar began chasing down Verstappen, Lando was doing his best to fend off a pestering Charles Leclerc from fourth.

After pulling a gap to Leclerc, he was pitted on Lap 16 in reaction to George Russell’s stop, but returned in heavy, yet-to-stop traffic. Quickfire moves followed on Kimi Antonelli, Lance Stroll, and Liam Lawson, before he came up against the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who made more than one change of direction in an unsuccessful attempt to disrupt Lando’s progress.

“There were moments through the race today where I was like, ‘okay, Tsunoda’s up next’, I knew he might try and make my life difficult like [Sergio] Pérez did to Lewis [Hamilton, in 2021], so that was in our scripts,” Lando said. “But I managed to get through pretty quickly – it was a bit close…”

Lando made a smooth second pit stop on Lap 40, taking on another set of the Hard tyres, to ward off any threat behind and cement a comfortable third position. It was a tense final stint, but fortunately, Lando could keep it clean and bring the car home in the podium position that he needed to be crowned the 2025 World Champion.

“It’s a moment that I’ll never forget,” said Lando, discussing the moment he crossed the line and saw the team celebrating. The 26-year-old has spent his entire Formula 1 career with McLaren Racing, joining our Driver Development Programme in 2017 at the age of just 17, before becoming Reserve Driver in 2018.

A race seat followed in 2019, as he stepped up to become the youngest McLaren Formula 1 Driver in history. Since then, Lando has grown with the team, playing an integral part in McLaren’s journey back to the front of the grid, through the various well-documented ups and downs, including back-to-back Constructors’ World Championship wins, in 2024 and 2025.

Fittingly, Lando became the most experienced McLaren driver in Qatar with his 151st Grand Prix start.

“It's been a long journey with me and McLaren,” Lando said. “I've been with them for like nine years, and we've been through plenty of crazy, difficult times and plenty of good times, so for me to feel like I can bring something back to them… It's their first Drivers’ [title] in many, many years, so I feel like I did my part for the team this year and I'm very proud of myself for that, but I'm even more proud of everyone that I've hopefully made cry!”

Lando becomes the eighth driver to win a Drivers’ World Championship with McLaren, following in the footsteps of Emerson Fittipaldi (1974), James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Mika Häkkinen (1998, 1999) and Lewis Hamilton (2008). He is the 11th British driver to become World Drivers’ Champion, and the 35th in history.

Lando also heaped praise on teammate Oscar, who fought resiliently through the season, and outgoing World Champion Verstappen.

 “I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors this whole season,” said Lando. “It's been a pleasure to race against both of them. It's been an honour. I've learned a lot from both of them as well, so I've enjoyed it. It's been a long year, but we did it.”

And there were some final words for some special people.

“I wouldn’t be here without my parents, the sacrifices they’ve made, and my brothers and sisters,” said an emotional Lando. “Everything that leads to achieving what we all achieved today.

“This is not my World Championship, this is ours. This is one where I get to say ‘thank you mum, thank you dad’, they’re the ones who sacrificed so much to let me be the lucky boy I am today, to live my dream.

“For the first time, I really get to say thank you to them, to my parents, to my family, and I get to really make them feel like everything they did was worth it. The thing that makes me smile every day is making my parents proud, making my friends proud, the people who support me, celebrate the good times, but I feel like I finally did something to say thank you, not just in words.

“They’re just as much a part of it, they’re with me every part of the way. I get to make them smile, and that’s all I really want in my life, is all of them to be happy and celebrate, and that’s what I did with them all today.”