Lando Norris is champion of the world. After losing out to his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Norris put in a measured drive. Max Verstappen took the race win, but with third place, Norris secured the podium he needed to secure his first world title by just two points. Visibly emotional, Norris congratulated his title rivals, saying they “didn’t make my life easy this year”. The 35th Formula 1 World Champion, the 11th to come from Great Britain, the eighth to win it for McLaren and the first to do so since Lewis Hamilton in 2008, Lando Norris now has his place in F1 folklore.
Max Verstappen capped off a resurgent second half of the season with another dominant win. After fending off Norris at the start, the Dutchman led throughout. After the final round of pit stops was complete, Verstappen had a 23 second lead. One that afforded him the possibility of pitting again, emerging in the lead and backing the pack up. However, Red Bull opted not to do this, and Verstappen was left free to claim a comfortable win. Despite losing his crown, Verstappen remained upbeat as he congratulated his team for their efforts and said that they should not be disappointed.
Oscar Piastri came to Abu Dhabi 16 points off the championship lead and was therefore a rank outsider. Starting on the hard tyres, the Australian did all he could by passing his medium shod teammate around the outside of turn nine on the opening lap. A lengthy first stint was not enough to reel in Verstappen, and Piastri had to settle for second in the race and third in the world title. Disappointed with having come so close, the 24-year-old old can be proud of his seven wins and 16 podium finishes. A commendable effort in only his third season.
Behind them, Charles Leclerc briefly seemed well placed to influence this world championship. Starting fifth, the Ferrari driver got past George Russell and briefly pressured Norris during the opening exchanges. A two-stop strategy saw him hold station in fourth, but Leclerc was unable to keep pace with the McLarens. In the end, he came home fourth to cap off a year Ferrari will be keen to see the back of.
After being hotly tipped to mix it in with the big three, George Russell had a quiet race. The Mercedes driver lost out to Leclerc at the start and soon found himself under threat from Fernando Alonso. Russell eventually prevailed and had a steady run to fifth. A result with which Mercedes have secured second in the constructors’ championship.
Unable to contend with Russell and Mercedes, Alonso ran his own race and secured his tenth points finish in sixth. With Adrian Newey now on board and a brand-new set of regulations inbound, Aston Martin will be under a great deal of scrutiny going into 2026.
Esteban Ocon made good on his commendable qualifying performance with seventh. The Haas driver came out on top after an eye-catching duel with Lewis Hamilton on lap 53.
Hamilton had to settle for eighth but was at the very least, able to complete a noteworthy recovery drive from 16th on the grid.
Similarly impressive was Nico Hulkenberg, who marked his 250th grand prix start with a rise through the ranks from 18th to ninth. A fitting farewell for the Sauber Team. Lance Stroll took the final points paying position in tenth ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who couldn’t convert his seventh place starting position into points.
Ollie Bearman finished 12th ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was one of the first to congratulate Norris on his title success. Instructed by his team to try and defend against Norris, Yuki Tsunoda made two separate movements down on back straight and forced the McLaren driver off the track. The incident earned Tsunoda a five-second penalty, and he eventually finished 14th in his final race for Red Bull.
Alex Albon finished 15th ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who failed to make progress after a disappointing qualifying. Isack Hadjar finished 17th ahead of Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.
It's been a long, varied and enthralling Formula 1 season. One in which Oscar Piastri showed the world what he was capable of, and Max Verstappen reaffirmed his status as the greatest driver of his era. In the end, however, it was Lando Norris who made good on both his pre-season potential and solid reputation. The boy from Bristol has just come of age. Lando Norris: your champion for 2025.
