As the race finally started after a nervy weekend for McLaren, the pressure was high after the team had suffered two difficult races in the grands prix preceding this one.
A double disqualification in Las Vegas followed by a botched strategy that handed Verstappen victory in Qatar had upped the stakes for McLaren at the end of a year in which they won the constructors’ title with six races to go.
Norris took a cautious approach to the start, not engaging with Verstappen as the Dutchman aggressively defended his lead from pole position on the run to the first corner.
Halfway around the lap, Piastri swept around the outside of Norris at the long left-hander of Turn Nine.
The move had been previously discussed in McLaren strategy meetings as a way to bring the Australian into play for the victory against Verstappen. Norris did not make it difficult for his team-mate to pass.
Piastri was on hard tyres and Verstappen and Norris on medium, so the plan was to run long and give Red Bull something to consider and reduce the risk of him backing up the field to Norris’ disadvantage.
Norris was left to battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for third place but was always in control.
And after a second tyre stop for Norris to mirror Leclerc’s two-stop strategy, the Briton closed in on Piastri in the final laps.
“It’s incredible. It is pretty surreal, you know?” said Norris. “I’ve dreamed 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 try and come out on top, and that’s what we have managed to do.
“It’s not just this year, it has been over the last seven or eight years being with McLaren, with the last 16, 17 years of my life, trying to chase this dream, and today we all did it so I’m pretty happy.”
Verstappen, who was aiming to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive drivers’ titles, said: “I kept looking up at the screen and hoping something would pop up. Every straight, I kept looking to see if something was happening, but it didn’t and that is racing, and I am not too fussed about it.
“I have no regrets about my season.”
