Lando Norris insists he is "still happy" with his title-race advantage heading into this weekend's Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi despite admitting he didn't have his "finest weekend" in Qatar.
Norris failed to take his first opportunity to seal a maiden drivers' title at the Qatar Grand Prix as he finished third in the Sprint and fourth in the full-length race at the Lusail International Circuit.
The upshot was that Norris lost ground on each of his two remaining rivals for the title and goes into the final round 12 points ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri four points further back.
Norris said after Sunday's race: "There's nothing I can do about it. Obviously, not our greatest day, not our greatest weekend.
"But I've had... I don't know if anyone saw the run of results I had before that were great.
"I've put myself in this position, I'm still happy. It wasn't our finest day, it wasn't my finest weekend in terms of driving and putting things together, but that's life.
"Everyone has bad weekends so I take it on the chin, we all take it on the chin, and we'll see what we can do next weekend."
Norris had put together a superb run of performances - including back-to-back wins in Mexico City and Sao Paulo - that had put him on the brink of sealing the title.
However, he lost a second-place finish when both McLarens were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix after post-race checks showed they had exceeded plank-wear limits.
Then in Qatar, Norris potentially lost positions as a result of McLaren choosing not to pit both of their cars under an early Safety Car. Although Norris accepted the strategy call didn't necessarily harm him overall as it also cost his team-mate Piastri, who had begun the race as his nearest challenger, a likely victory.
Asked whether McLaren should have pitted him under the Safety Car, Norris said: "Probably, yeah, but both of us should have done, so I would have been had over either way, because we would have double-stacked and potentially I would have lost time - a bit of time, I mean, I probably wouldn't have lost a position, I don't think.
"It's something we'll go and talk about and review, but I also have to have faith that the team are making the right call, and that's what I had to do."
The Brit also made a couple of errors of his own during the Qatar Sprint weekend, failing to maximise his performance in both qualifying sessions and being overtaken by Verstappen at the start of the race.
Norris insists that the spectre of Verstappen, who is seeking a fifth successive drivers' title, challenging him for the title in Abu Dhabi won't alter his approach.
"It's the same as every weekend," he added.
"I try and beat them, they try and beat me. It's nothing different."
Thursday December 4
11am: Drivers' Press Conference
2pm: Paddock Uncut
Friday December 5
7am: F2 Practice
9am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice One (session starts at 9.30am)*
10.55am: F2 Qualifying*
11.40am: Team Bosses' Press Conference*
12.45pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice Two (session starts at 1pm)*
2.15pm: The F1 Show*
Saturday December 6
10.15am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 11:30am)*
12.10pm: F2 Sprint*
1.15pm: Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying build-up*
2pm: ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
4pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday December 7
9.10am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Grand Prix Sunday: Abu Dhabi GP build-up*
1pm: THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX*
3pm: Chequered Flag: Abu Dhabi GP reaction*
4pm: Ted's Notebook
*also on SportNews Main Event
The 2025 F1 season concludes with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix live on SportNews F1 from Friday.
