Lando Norris' maiden Formula One drivers' championship win proves you do not have to be "ruthless or a badass" to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

That is the view of Norris' former McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz, who always believed the Brit had the necessary speed to capture the title.

A third-place finish at Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ensured Norris edged out four-time defending champion Max Verstappen – who won the season finale – by a mere two points.

Norris is the 35th different driver to win the F1 driver's championship and the eighth to do so with McLaren, after Emerson Fitipaldi (1974), James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Lewis Hamilton (2008).

The team's total of 13 drivers' titles is just two behind Ferrari's 15, which remains the all-time record, while Great Britain has now provided at least nine more drivers' title wins than any other nation (21, Germany are second with 12).

Norris spent the first two years of his career as a team-mate of Sainz before the Spaniard joined Ferrari, where he spent four years before moving on to Williams.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Sainz said Norris' triumph was important as it showed championship winners did not have to be abrasive characters.

"I'm very happy for him as a driver because he's always been extremely quick, quicker than what people give him credit for. He's extremely talented," Sainz said. 

"The first years at McLaren, I saw a guy who had the speed to be a multiple world champion if it was purely down to speed. Along the way, he's developed his skills a lot, and now he's a world champion.

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"More than anything, I'm happy for him as a person because he's a driver that doesn't follow the typical stereotypes of a world champion. 

"He's always stayed true to himself, he's been very honest, very open about his own struggles, and he's proven to everyone you can be world champion while being a nice guy, that you don't have to be ruthless or a badass.

"I hope he stays the same, that it doesn't get in his head that he's world champion, and he keeps being himself, or even if he relaxes more, and can enjoy F1 more."

At 26 years and 24 days old, Norris is the seventh-youngest driver to win his first F1 title, after Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Hamilton in 2008, Fernando Alonso in 2005, Verstappen in 2021, Fitipaldi in 1972 and Michael Schumacher in 1994.