'Everything went right' – Brown and Stella reflect on Norris' title success in Abu Dhabi

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has said "everything went right" in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix title-decider, with Lando Norris securing his maiden Formula 1 Drivers' title after an "unbelievable race".

Norris finished behind title rivals Max Verstappen and team mate Oscar Piastri on Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit, but third-place was enough to claim this year's title by two points.

The Briton faced early pressure from Charles Leclerc behind and was investigated for an off-track overtake on Yuki Tsunoda mid-race, but was able to complete the podium via a two-stop strategy.

"Just amazing. That was an unbelievable race, edge of your seat stuff," said Brown.

"Charles was in our DRS, close call with Yuki. Oscar drove brilliantly, Max is a machine, so to beat Max and an awesome team like Red Bull is such an accomplishment. Racing with Lando and Oscar, you couldn't ask for a better driver line-up.

"The pit stops and then having to cover Leclerc, there's just so many things that can go wrong and everything went right. It's a long season."

While McLaren comfortably secured the Teams' Championship with several races remaining, the Drivers' title went down to the final race after a late surge by Verstappen and Red Bull.

This year also marked back-to-back Constructors' titles for McLaren, but the crown for Norris is the first Drivers' title for the team since Lewis Hamilton back in 2008.

"You're always asked what's more important and I can tell you the stress and desire to win the Drivers' Championship was every bit as high [as the Constructors']," said Brown.

"So rewarding, so happy for the team and both our drivers. I'm looking forward to coming back and racing next year."

While Verstappen and Piastri completed just one pit stop in the 58-lap race, Norris pitted twice with the first stop bringing him out in traffic.

Having made his way back through the field and into P3, the McLaren driver made a second stop to cover off Leclerc behind.

Team Principal Andrea Stella admitted it was difficult to know which was the correct strategy, having also put Norris and Piastri on different starting tyres to try and cover off Verstappen.

"The chat at the pit wall was that we just have to cover Leclerc and we kind of go to our defensive, responsive strategy," he said.

"With Oscar, we tried to go as long as possible [on the hard], see if we could catch a Safety Car and then see at the end with the medium tyres if we could go and catch Verstappen, but Verstappen was once again too fast and he deserved the victory."