Norris secures maiden F1 Drivers’ title as Verstappen wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from Piastri
- Meghana Sree
- 9 hours ago
- 9 min read
Lando Norris sealed his maiden F1 Drivers' title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen took victory from pole and misses out on the title by just two points. Oscar Piastri finished second in the race ahead of Norris after an early-race overtake on his teammate, who comfortably brought home the championship.
The final race of the 2025 season took place under the lights of Yas Marina, with a three-way title battle for the first time in 15 years fought between Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, and won by Norris.
After the end of the 2024 season, Norris claimed that 'next year will be his year', a manifestation he has now achieved by securing a historic maiden Formula One World Drivers' Championship, the first McLaren driver to do so since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
After Piastri passed Norris on the opening lap and Verstappen sprinted ahead of the pack, Norris was left defending his podium spot from Charles Leclerc, while also facing the risk of a potential penalty after a move on Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda which he escaped from.
Norris persevered through all the obstacles and managed to bring home his first world title as Verstappen went on to win the race with Piastri in second.
Here's how the final race of 2025 panned out to mark the end of an era and a career milestone for Norris.
Race Report
Pole-sitter Verstappen and championship leader Norris had elected for the medium tyre, while Piastri was on the hard compound.
The three contenders remained intact through the first corners, as Verstappen firmly closed the door on Norris and Piastri held on to third from George Russell who dropped down two positions, promoting Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso up a spot.
Meanwhile, Piastri was well and truly on the hunt, effortlessly pulling off an audacious move around the outside of teammate Norris for second on Lap 2. This released the Briton into Leclerc’s clutches, the Ferrari driver steadily applying the pressure on Norris into Lap 3.
At the other end of the field, Franco Colapinto in 20th was noted for a starting procedure infringement, as Russell took back fifth from Alonso. Leclerc was still looming large in Norris’ mirrors, planted within the McLaren’s DRS range through Laps 4 and 5.
Ahead in the race lead, Verstappen was still cruising comfortably with over two seconds as buffer to Piastri in second.
Alonso once again found himself leading a DRS train, all the way from sixth till Nico Hülkenberg in 18th, the Sauber driver pulling into the pits on Lap 8 quickly followed by Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon – all three getting rid of the softs for hard tyres.
Over at McLaren, Piastri was asked to pick up the pace to help Norris clear the dirty air, and was also informed that Verstappen had begun to experience graining. Norris was given a similar message, and received some encouragement that his tyres were in better condition.
The championship leader also had some breathing room to Leclerc by Lap 12, the Ferrari driver now a little over a second adrift of Norris. At this stage, the top 10 was occupied by Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar, Esteban Ocon, and Yuki Tsunoda.
On Lap 14, Norris communicated to his team that his graining had now begun to pick up, while Liam Lawson in 11th collected a five-second time penalty for driving erratically.
The first of the front runners to pit was Russell, the Mercedes crew attempting to execute an undercut on the McLarens and Leclerc but suffering a slow stop to mitigate the threat. Russell rejoined the track in 14th, while Norris and Leclerc continued to stay out on this lap.
As Bortoleto too stopped from inside the points, the gap between Verstappen and Piastri had been whittled down to under two seconds
The first pivotal moment of the Grand Prix came on Lap 17, with Norris, Leclerc and Alonso deciding to stop. Norris crucially covered off both Russell and Leclerc, the three cars in ninth, 10th and 11th respectively on track.
While Verstappen and Piastri continued to stay out, Norris found himself in traffic. The Briton swiftly cleared both Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz, climbing up to seventh.
Norris executed two more significant passes on Lawson and Lance Stroll, Lawson in the Red Bull sister outfit putting up a fight against the McLaren driver but Norris hanging onto his position.
Leclerc efficiently recreated Norris’ double pass on Lawson and Stroll after clearing Antonelli, which lifted him to fifth behind Norris, the McLaren driver now finding himself behind Verstappen’s teammate, Tsunoda.
The Japanese driver, set to be replaced in 2026, was then reminded of what he needed to do to assist Verstappen — back Norris up and make sure he doesn't get past.
The team game was now fully underway on Lap 23, but Tsunoda struggled to hold Norris back any longer, the McLaren driver darting past Tsunoda after a feisty overtake that danced on the limits of the painted lines. The stewards quickly noted the overtake, as Verstappen came in for his first stop of the race, promoting Piastri to the race lead.
While Norris’ overtake on Tsunoda was still under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, Leclerc cleared the Red Bull driver as well. Tsunoda meanwhile was also noted, in this case for forcing another driver off the track.
At this stage on Lap 27, a penalty for Norris could've change the entire outlook of the race.
Up in the race lead, Piastri was still going strong on the hard compound, while Verstappen had been released from his stop into second place, 16.7 seconds off the lead.
Leclerc meanwhile remained a potential curveball in the race in fourth, while Hamilton was now running in eighth, ahead of Alonso who made a pass on Antonelli.
On Lap 29, Russell cleared Tsunoda for fifth, while the Japanese driver was slammed with a costly five-second time penalty for more than one change of direction on the track. On the other hand, Norris’ incident was declared as no further investigation, a huge sigh of relief for the McLaren camp.
Meanwhile, it was a busy day in the stewards’ office, with several drivers pinged with a black and white flag, including Antonelli and Hamilton. The Ferrari driver took his second stop of the evening on Lap 32.
Of the top 10, the only ones left to take their first stop were Piastri and Stroll.
Over in the mid-field battle, both Aston Martins were in the running for a decent haul of points, Stroll in sixth ahead of Alonso, while Ocon and Bearman were in ninth and 10th with Bearman’s crucial pass on Hülkenberg for the final point.
Verstappen meanwhile was encouraged to turn up the wick and cut down the gap to Piastri, who on Lap 37, was still yet to stop. Further behind, Leclerc had begun to drop away from Norris, nearly six seconds behind the McLaren driver as the Monegasque was forced to manage his tyres.
Ocon and Bortoleto had now taken to swapping blows, battling for eighth, while at the lower end of the field, Albon faced a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. On the opposite side of the timing tower, Piastri’s buffer to Verstappen had been sliced down to 1.4 seconds, the Red Bull driver pumping in the fastest lap of the race in his efforts to chase down the lead.
On Lap 40, Leclerc triggered the next round of stops, which prompted an immediate reaction from Norris’ garage. The following lap, Verstappen smoothly got past Piastri for the race lead, the Australian finally kicking off the hard tyres after 42 laps.
Following Piastri’s stop, the top five was occupied by Verstappen, Piastri, Norris and Leclerc after an overtake on Russell from fifth to fourth.
As it stood, Norris would become World Champion with Verstappen winning the race, just as Leclerc set the fastest lap of the race. Piastri, running in second and aware of his championship hopes slipping away, appealed over the radio: “How do I win this race?”
Further behind, Hamilton’s charge from the back continued as he slotted into eighth after clean overtakes on Bortoleto and Bearman.
By Lap 47, Verstappen’s camp chose to stay out on the worn hard tyres, as the Dutchman questioned whether Leclerc was catching Norris or not. With 10 laps to go, Verstappen was on course for a race win and Norris on course for a maiden F1 Drivers’ Championship.
On Lap 52, Leclerc, despite the Ferrari’s revived performance in the early stages of the race, was unable to mount any significant challenge on Norris for the podium. The key battles on track were between Ocon and Hamilton for seventh, the two drivers trading positions through the DRS zones, and between Bortoleto and Sainz for the final point.
Stroll was now in the mix for the final point too, as he overtook Sainz and attempted to rescue an extra point for Aston Martin to lift them above Racing Bulls in the Constructors’ standings. The Canadian driver completed the pass on the Sauber driver on Lap 56 of 58, while up ahead, the Drivers’ Championship was firmly within Norris’ grasp while running in third.
Ahead of him, Piastri was unable to cut down on Verstappen’s gap, the Red Bull driver sprinting ahead of the Papaya pair.
Verstappen comfortably won the race from Piastri, but the real story was Norris in third, securing the Drivers’ title from Verstappen by merely two points.
Behind the podium finishers, Leclerc and Russell rounded out the top five, while the final points of 2025 were grabbed by Alonso, Ocon, Hamilton, Hülkenberg and Stroll; after penalties were applied to Stroll and Bearman.
Full results can be found here.
Championship Standings
Norris did everything that needed to be done to win his maiden F1 title, taking it with just two points between himself and Verstappen. Piastri signs off the season in third, 11 points away from Verstappen, while Russell and Leclerc complete the top five.
Hamilton secured vital points after a Q1 exit to remain sixth in the standings ahead of the rookie who replaced him at Mercedes, Antonelli, as Albon, Sainz and Alonso round out the top 10.
Meanwhile in the Constructors' standings, Mercedes bring home P2 from Red Bull, while the mid-field battle was won by Racing Bulls, just three points ahead of Aston Martin who recorded a double points finish in the season finale. Haas sit a further 10 points away on 79 points, while Sauber finish their final F1 race under the Sauber name with 70 points in ninth.
Key Quotes
Norris was on cloud nine after securing his maiden F1 title, years in the making. The Briton remarked: "I didn't think I would cry but I did. It is a long journey. I want to say a big thanks to my guys, everyone at McLaren, my parents.
"I now know what Max feels like a little bit! I want to congratulate Max and Oscar as well, it has been a pleasure to race against both of them, and to learn from both of them. But we did it, we did it!"
The newly crowned world champion went on to add: "It is incredible. It is pretty surreal. I dreamed of this for along, long time - I mean everyone does. A lot goes into a second like this, a lot of ups, a lot of downs. But none of that matters if you come out on top. But I did it with an incredible team.
"And it is not just this year, the last seven, eight years with McLaren, the last 16, 17 years of my life trying to chase my dream.
"My best performances this year came when I needed them the most - the second half of the season when I was on the back foot, and I managed to show the best of me."
Meanwhile Verstappen was proud of his team and their efforts despite narrowly missing out on the title, and shared: "At the end of course, then you lose the championship by two points [and it] looks painful, but on the other hand, if you look from where we were in Zandvoort, more than 100 behind, then I think it’s not too bad.”
Piastri, after a season full of many learnings, stated: "When things were good, I've felt unstoppable at times. To get to that point is a cool feeling.
"And there have been plenty of times where that isn't the case, so I have learned how to deal with tough moments, and adversity. I have learned a lot about myself."
Up Next
That’s a wrap on the 2025 season and the current ground effect era, as F1 now heads into its annual winter break ahead of what’s sure to be a thrilling 2026 season marking the start of the new regulations.
After the break, the new season gets underway from 6th to 8th March in Australia, but until then, team car launches and pre-season testing in January and February will be sure to keep the F1 world busy.
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