Lando Norris said he simply "wanted to go to bed" after McLaren's strategy error in Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix cost him a chance of wrapping up the Formula One title. 

Norris knew an eighth race win of the season would see him be crowned the world champion for the first time, but the Briton could only take the chequered flag in fourth. 

The day belonged to Max Verstappen, who stormed to the 70th victory of his F1 career to cut the gap to Norris to 12 points, ahead of next weekend's season finale in Abu Dhabi. 

Indeed, it will be the first time since 2010 that more than two drivers will compete for the title in the final race, with Oscar Piastri also in with a shout after finishing second. 

But both Norris and Piastri were not helped out by their team, who opted to keep both drivers out on track following an early collision between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg. 

Many drivers took that opportunity on lap seven to take the first of two mandatory pit stops, but McLaren did not, a decision that came back to bite them late in the race. 

Asked how he would approach Abu Dhabi now that Verstappen is his biggest threat, Norris said: "The same as every weekend. I try and beat them, they try and beat me.

"Nothing different. I just want to go to bed."

A podium finish in Abu Dhabi would still see Norris become the 11th British driver to be crowned the world champion, but he acknowledged the pressure was on. 

Norris has, however, thrived under those circumstances, most notably his stretch of races since he was forced to retire at the Dutch Grand Prix back in August. 

Indeed, since then, the Briton has finished on the podium five times in the last eight grands prix, including race wins in Mexico City and Sao Paulo. 

It will be a three-way fight to the finish #F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/NKxjEH6PGv

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2025

"Obviously, it's not our greatest day, not our greatest weekend," he said. "But I don't know if anyone saw the run of results I had before that, [they] were great. So, I put myself in this position [at the top of the championship].

"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.

"I take it on the chin, we'll take it on the chin, and we'll see what we can do next weekend."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged he made a mistake with his team's strategy, but insisted he would do everything in his power to put things right next week. 

"I think in terms of the misjudgement, it is something that we will have to review, discussing internally," he added.

"We will have to assess some factors like, for instance, whether there was a certain bias in the way we were thinking that led us as a group to think that not all cars necessarily would have pitted.

"There are, sometimes, some objective reasons and, sometimes, there may be some biases in the way you think.

"We will have to go through the review in a very thorough way, but what's important is that we do it as usual in a way that is constructive, is analytical.

"Racing is tough, racing may give you tough lessons, but this is the history of champions. This is just the history of Formula 1, this is the true nature of racing.

"We are disappointed, but if anything, as soon as we start the review, we will get even more determined to learn from our lessons, adapt and be stronger as a team."