Carlos Sainz backs Norris for title — with a pointed warning about Yas Marina
Carlos Sainz thinks Lando Norris has the title right where he wants it — but he’s not pretending a Sunday podium at Yas Marina is ever straightforward, even in a McLaren.
The Williams driver, who shared a garage (and a fair bit of golf) with Norris at McLaren in 2019–20, expects the Abu Dhabi layout to play to his former teammate’s strengths as this three‑way championship fight lands on the final square. Norris arrives 12 points clear of Max Verstappen with Oscar Piastri four further back; finish on the podium and the Briton can lock up his first world title regardless of what the others do.
“I’ll be watching very closely,” Sainz said in Abu Dhabi. “Everyone knows how well I get on with Lando — I wish him the best possible outcome. I also have a lot of respect for Max and Oscar. But if the finale had to be anywhere for Lando, it’s here.”
There’s history behind that. Norris was untouchable around Yas Marina last year, Sainz admitted with a wry smile, and the McLaren has usually been happy on this surface — long traction zones, plenty of medium-speed rhythm and a tyre profile that rewards clean, calm management. “He dominated last year’s race in front of me,” Sainz said. “This place has always felt like a Lando track — and a McLaren track.”
The arithmetic flatters the idea that this is already a done deal. It isn’t. Since the break, Norris has been electric more often than not — five podiums in nine, offset by a DNF, a disqualification and a couple of near-misses. That’s the form of a title contender, yes, but not the form of someone coasting. And podium-by-demand is a different game entirely.
“Going into a finale needing the podium is never easy, even if you’re driving a McLaren,” Sainz cautioned. “He’ll need to execute a perfect weekend. Given how he’s responded under pressure lately, I believe he can do it.”
If that sounds like Sainz knows the driver behind the helmet, it’s because he does. The ‘CarLando’ bond from their two seasons together was built on more than memes. Sainz has kept close tabs on Norris’s evolution, and his assessment of the 26‑year‑old is blunt in the best possible way.
“When Lando arrived, the raw speed was already there — unbelievable car control, qualifying laps that jumped off the data,” Sainz said. “I’ve been teammates with Charles, with Max, with Lando… all the top guys. Lando has nothing left in the tank in terms of pure speed. On his good day, he’s as quick as anyone — quicker than anyone.”
What’s changed is everything around the edges. “He’s developed the consistency,” Sainz added. “He’s strong now at tracks where, in the first couple of years, he wasn’t. He’s become quick in every circumstance, every type of corner. That comes with experience. He’s a more complete driver now than he was back then.”
That completeness is going to be tested. Verstappen is Verstappen — more than capable of turning a 12‑point gap into kindling if he smells weakness. Piastri is the wildcard in the same car, perfectly placed to force McLaren into the kind of Sunday that teams hate: one driver chasing a title, the other capable of winning the race. Abu Dhabi has seen that movie before, and it doesn’t take a deep memory to recall how messy it can get if the script flips.
The flip side for Norris is that he’s controlled his weekends better in the second half of the year, and Yas Marina rewards control more than chaos. Qualifying matters, the margins matter, track position matters. He doesn’t need heroics — he needs a clean start, a clean first stint, and a calm head when the strategy window opens. Easy to say. Brutal to live.
Sainz, for his part, isn’t hedging; he sounds like a racer who knows the smell of a good fit. “If there’s anyone who can do it under this kind of pressure, it’s Lando,” he said. “But he’ll have to be perfect.”
That’s the title-decider in a sentence. Norris has the hand, McLaren has the car, Abu Dhabi has the vibe — but the podium box is small, and there are at least two drivers intent on shoving him off it. If he makes it, it’ll feel inevitable in hindsight. If he doesn’t, it’ll feel like Abu Dhabi being Abu Dhabi.
