Lando Norris marked his maiden Formula One world championship victory with a glitzy afterparty that stretched into the early hours, culminating in a rather less glamorous McDonald’s breakfast.
The British driver, who became only the 11th from the UK to clinch an F1 title, celebrated until 6 am before seeking out some fast food.
The 26-year-old’s historic night unfolded at the W Hotel, perched atop the Yas Marina Circuit where, just hours prior, he had realised a childhood dream.
Videos circulating from the celebration showed Norris toasting his success, leading singalongs to Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ and Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’, surrounded by friends and family.
Recounting the end of his celebratory night, Norris revealed: "6am, and then a little McDonald’s. I really wanted some Chicken McNuggets but it was the morning by then so they didn’t have any left."
He settled for a less-than-ideal alternative. "I had a Sausage McMuffin. Was it the breakfast of champions? Certainly not. I regretted it straightaway."
Norris secured his championship by holding his nerve at the season-finale in Abu Dhabi, finishing third in the race.
This result was enough to end Max Verstappen’s dominant run of four consecutive world championships, with Norris ultimately finishing just two points ahead after a gruelling 24-round campaign.
Reflecting on the final moments of Sunday’s 58-lap race, Norris described an almost out-of-body experience.
"It was like a movie," he said. "As much as I was just trying to avoid every bump possible, I was also remembering all of those moments, from the very beginning, driving a go-kart for the first time ever, my first time on the track in a go-kart, the races I had, the karting world championship I won in 2014, and many different memories."
He continued: "I was watching me, I was living it, but I was also watching me drive around from a bird’s-eye view – and this was all within the space of a couple of minutes – through to the last seven years of McLaren and the good and bad moments of this season."
Initially, the magnitude of the moment hadn't fully registered. "I had no idea what to expect. And with three laps to go, I was like, ‘I am getting pretty close, and I am not feeling anything yet’. I was like, ‘Is this going to mean a lot to me?’."
Then, the emotional floodgates opened. "Then the next lap, I started having these cool flashbacks. It was like a montage of my life, and going under the bridge for the final time, and imagining my mum in the garage, and that made me a bit emotional."
The true climax, however, came at the finish line. "But the best memory was when I came round the final corner, and this is now from my view, my eyes inside my visor, coming round, and seeing the chequered flag, and that moment of lifting off and being able to cry. I want to saviour that moment because that was the ‘it’ moment."
Norris admitted he rarely gets emotional and had even considered how other champions celebrated.
"I don’t get emotional like that over anything and before the weekend I was like, ‘Do I need to look up a video as to how celebrate a world championship?’."
He thought about Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton but ultimately decided against it. "I didn’t in the end. And what played out was what I felt and that was all in the moment and that made it extra special."
Despite the monumental achievement, Norris, who will return to his McLaren for a Pirelli tyre test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, insists the title will not alter his core identity.
He concluded: "From the exterior it will change my life, but it won’t change me, and how I live it. I really hope it doesn’t anyway. I don’t want to be that kind of person.
“It is cool that people will now say I am a world champion, and my name is on an incredible list of other drivers, but it won’t change who I am and that is the most important thing."