#F1: @LandoNorris takes maiden title, @Max33Verstappen scores #AbuDhabiGP victory

Norris 2025 World Champion – McLaren’s Lando Norris secured his maiden World Driver’s Championship after finishing third at the season-closing Abu Dhabi GP, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the race from Oscar Piastri.

 

 

The Dutchman lead a flawless race from start-to-finish to take his eighth victory of the season to give Red Bull a last victory with their technical partnership with Honda before moving to Ford for 2026 and beyond.

 

Norris only needed to secure a top-three result to secure the title, having started the race 12 points clear of Verstappen. And, although Norris lost a place to team-mate Piastri on the opening lap and thus came under heavy pressure from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc later on, he was able to remain in third place to clinch his first World Driver’s Championship crown.

 

This was McLaren’s first World Driver’s Championship triumph since Sir Lewis Hamilton won it for the Woking based-outfit at the 2008 Brazilian GP at Interlagos.

 

When the 58-lap Abu Dhabi GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen made a comfortable getaway covering championship leader Norris and fellow title-contender Piastri off into turn one as behind them fourth-placed starter Russell dropped a few places back down into sixth place.

 

In the battle for second Piastri made a sweeping move around the outside of team-mate and championship leader Norris at turn nine to take second place off the Briton.

 

The beginning of the second tour saw Verstappen out of DRS range by 1.2 seconds over Piastri with Norris holding third, Leclerc fourth, Alonso fifth, Russell sixth, Bortoleto seventh, Hadjar eighth, Ocon ninth as Tsunoda completed the top ten runners.

 

The 3^rd lap – Piastri did not have DRS on Verstappen, nor did Norris on his team-mate. Leclerc and Alonso and pretty much the whole field behind at this stage did so on the Briton.

 

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was noted by the race stewards for a race starting infringement.

 

With DRS down the on the run to turn six, Russell made a dive on the inside of Alonso to move up into fifth place.

 

The fifth tour saw Verstappen’s lead at 2.389 seconds over Piastri with Norris third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Alonso sixth, Bortoleto seventh, Hadjar eighth, Ocon ninth whilst Tsunoda rounded out the top ten runners.

 

Leclerc was all over the back of Norris, whilst the Monegasque driver’s team-mate Hamilton was up to 13^th and chasing down Haas’s Oliver Bearman.

 

Norris was told the team are “happy” with his pace at this stage of proceedings, knowing full well that Leclerc’s tyres will eventually overheat behind in the dirty air.

 

Reports were Norris was managing his medium tyres.

 

The sixth lap – Leclerc could not find even half-a-gap with Norris making his MCL39 racer as wide as possible.

 

But as a result, the Briton was 1.4 seconds behind his team-mate. In turn, Piastri was over two seconds back on the race leader and fellow championship contender Verstappen.

 

Lap seven – Verstappen was in control out there. He is told by his Race Engineer Giampiero Lambiase that they might “wish” to go longer, so the Dutchman was told to manage his tyres.

 

Verstappen led by 2.3 seconds from Piastri but will need to start playing some games at some point – especially with McLaren having the split strategies with their two drivers in the championship game.

 

The ninth tour – Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg got rid of his C5 softs last time around, this lap Hamilton and Albon both pitted to get rid of their softs also. Hards were on for all three.

 

Meanwhile, Leclerc suffered a scruffy exit from the last corner and had dropped a couple of tenths off Norris.

 

Lap 10 saw Verstappen’s lead at 2.186 seconds over Piastri with Norris holding third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Alonso sixth, Bortoleto seventh, Hadjar eighth, Ocon ninth as Tsunoda completed the top ten runners.

 

A few laps ago, Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly made contact – we did not see it, but it was under investigation. Hulkenberg was 19^th after pitting, Gasly was down in 16^th.

 

And as quickly as the stewards looked at that moment, they opted to take no further action.

 

The 11^th lap – Verstappen’s lead was not growing, as he was managing his C4 tyres and Piastri upped the pace on his more durable C3 harder compound.

 

Lap 12 – The situation was Verstappen leading by 1.2 seconds, and Piastri was 2.2 seconds clear of his McLaren team-mate Norris. Leclerc had finally dropped out of DRS range from Norris, after failing to find a way through on the MCL39 entry.

 

Russell was fifth, Alonso sixth and then came the rest of the field.

 

Lawson and Bearman were currently under investigation for driving erratically.

 

The 13^th lap – Championship leader Norris was complaining about graining. How much longer can his mediums go was the question. Race leader Verstappen of course had clean air to run in on the medium C4 rubber.

 

On the 14^th lap, Lawson was hit with a five-second-timed penalty for erratic driving.

 

Lap 15 saw, Mercedes attempting the undercut with Russell on Leclerc as the Briton stopped for a fresh set of the harder tyres and emerged in 13^th place behind Colapinto whilst Hadjar done the same with Bortoleto – The Frenchman put on the harder compound and came out in 18^th.

 

Bortoleto stopped a lap later from sixth and came out in 15^th behind team-mate Hulkenberg.

 

The 17^th tour saw Championship leader Norris, Leclerc and Alonso all pit for a fresh set of the C3 white-branded harder tyres and they all came out in ninth, tenth and 14^th respectively.

 

Out-front Piastri was told “Plan A” by his Race Engineer Tom Stallard.

 

Lap 18 – Championship leader Norris made a dive up the inside of Antonelli into the turn five left-hand hairpin to move up into eighth and covered the Italian into turn six and a bit later on – Norris also made short work of former team-mate Sainz passing the Williams on the run to turn nine to jump into seventh place.

 

The 19^th tour – Sainz pitted from eighth for his fresh set of harder rubber and came out in 17^th place behind Bearman – Norris was on the charge – the Briton made a move on both Lawson and Stroll with DRS assistance to make his way into fifth. Ocon pitted from fourth and came out in 16^th behind team-mate Bearman.

 

The 20^th lap – Leclerc performed the same move on both Lawson and Stroll to jump to fifth place as out-front Verstappen’s lead over Piastri was at 2.3 seconds.

 

The 21^st tour – Verstappen was leading from Piastri and Red Bull team-mate Tsunoda. Those three had not pitted at this stage of proceedings. Championship leader Norris was next on track, and he had 2.8 seconds to make up to catch Tsunoda, whose job will be to slow Norris down to help his race leading team-mate out in the championship fight.

 

But Piastri on the hards always had to go long with his harder compound stint, how long can Verstappen go on the medium tyres was the question. And where will the Dutchman end up? He had a pit stop advantage over Norris at this stage.

 

Lap 23 – Tsunoda had told the team to leave him alone – he knew his job. the gap between Tsunoda and Norris was a few tenths, Norris had DRS.

 

Tsunoda would be trying to use his battery carefully, even a tour or two would help his team-mate.

 

The 24^th lap – Verstappen pitted from the lead for his fresh set of the harder tyres and came out behind fellow championship contender Piastri.

 

Norris did use DRS to get Tsunoda on the back straight on the run down to turn six. Tsunoda squeezed Norris as much as he could, and Norris did run wide off-track.

 

Lap 26 – The two incidents involving Tsunoda and Norris was under investigation by the stewards (Tsunoda for forcing another driver off the track, and Norris for leaving the track and gaining an advantage) – Leclerc overtook Tsunoda on the run down to turn six with DRS to move up into fourth place.

 

The 27^th tour – Piastri was leading the race on the harder tyre, but he was only 23 seconds in-front of Norris, and a pit stop loss was around 21 seconds. So in a tour or two, Piastri’s pit stop would bring him out behind team-mate and fellow championship challenger Norris – And potentially behind Leclerc too.

 

It seemed Piastri’s Championship hopes of his maiden world title have dwindled to next to nothing, unless there was a well-timed Safety Car.

 

The 28^th tour – Tsunoda, Stroll and Antonelli were yet to pit. But Hamilton was in eighth and in the points on merit, although he would have to make his hards last a long way.

 

Alonso was in there on merit too holding ninth after his pit stop. The rest needed to shake out when the hard-starters pit.

 

The 29^th lap – Russell made his move around the inside of Tsunoda at turn nine to move up into fifth as the race stewards slapped Tsunoda with a five-second-timed-penalty for weaving multiple times in his battle with Norris – Whilst Norris’s incident for leaving the track and gaining an advantage deemed no further action.

 

Lap 30 saw Piastri’s lead at 14.231 seconds over Verstappen with Norris third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Tsunoda sixth, Stroll seventh, Hamilton eighth, Alonso ninth as Bortoleto completed the top ten runners.

 

The 31^st tour – Piastri lead was at 13.4 seconds over Verstappen, so from two seconds behind the Dutchman, he is de facto eight or nine seconds back. The undercut was the way forward – unless Piastri could do some damage on fresh tyres later on.

 

Lap 32 – Hamilton stopped from eighth for a set of the C4 mediums and came out in 19^th place behind Colapinto.

 

The 33^rd tour – Tsunoda pitted from sixth to serve his five-second-timed-penalty and put on a fresh set of mediums and emerged in 18^th behind Hamilton – Antonelli also stopped for a set of mediums and came out in last place behind Lawson.

 

Lap 35 – Piastri’s lead over Verstappen was down to 8.823 seconds with Norris holding third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Stroll sixth, Alonso seventh, Bortoleto eighth as the two VF-25’s of Ocon and Bearman completed the top ten runners.

 

The 36^th lap – Leclerc had dropped back from Norris as he started to manage his C4 tyres – Ferrari needed to decide whether the Monegasque driver was one or two-stopping and give him plenty of tour to make the time back if he does pit again.

 

Piastri went around for yet another lap without pitting – proving the C3 harder tyres are holding their own, although the Australian would be making up lots of time later on.

 

Lap 37 – “The rear is starting to get a bit worse now,” said Piastri as his lead got cut to 6.2 seconds. Norris was a further six seconds back in third place.

 

Norris had the Championship on paper at this stage of proceedings, third place more than good enough – and he was effectively second, as he’ll go past his team-mate when Piastri pits.

 

The 38^th tour – Were McLaren leaving Piastri out long for the Australian to have the best tyres later on, or to prevent Verstappen controlling things at the front was the question. By Piastri’s voice on the radio, he was not driving with the thoughts of the chance of the championship slipping away from him.

 

The 39^th lap – Albon received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane – he was last – Piastri’s lead was down to 3.5 seconds. Verstappen was flying, Piastri was struggling and Norris was minding his own business in third with the Briton on course for his maiden world title.

 

Lap 40 saw Leclerc pit a second time and came out in fifth place behind Russell on his fresh set of the mediums.

 

The 41^st tour saw Norris react to Leclerc’s pit stop and remained in third place as Verstappen overtook Piastri to reclaim the lead.

 

The 42^nd lap saw Piastri finally pit after 42 laps on the hards for his fresh set of the mediums and emerged ahead of team-mate Norris in second place.

 

Leclerc with his set of mediums and with DRS assistance made a move on the inside of Russell on the run down to turn six and moved up into fourth place.

 

Lap 43 – Norris was sitting as the World Champion elect as it stood at this stage. McLaren have covered off Leclerc with Norris, and it looked like they were going for the win for Piastri. But the Australian was 24.2 seconds behind Verstappen, so the Dutchman had a free pit-stop over the McLaren driver.

 

The 44^th lap – Leclerc on the mediums was running faster than Norris on the hards. The C3 compound did take a few laps to get into a working optimal range.

 

So, was Leclerc going to be a late thorn in the side of McLaren was the question.

 

Meanwhile, it did not seem like Verstappen was going to pit. he was told Piastri needs 1.5 seconds per lap and the team would “keep him posted.”

 

Lap 45 – “How do I win this race?” Piastri asked. The Australian was not thinking about team orders. If Leclerc does catch Norris, Piastri could have to drop back to help his team-mate. At the same time, Piastri needed to speed up to ensure Verstappen does not have a pit stop window over him.

 

The 46^th lap – The situation was Piastri sitting 22.2 seconds behind Verstappen so the Dutchman pitting would come out behind the Aussie.

 

Norris was 4.8 seconds behind his team-mate but his tyres were finally up to optimal temperature and the Briton was finally matching Leclerc for pace.

 

Leclerc was 4.2 seconds behind in fourth place.

 

Alonso, Ocon, Hamilton, Bearman and Bortoleto were on course for points today, as Gasly was hit with a time penalty for exceeding track limits.

 

With ten laps remaining – Verstappen lead was at 19.122 seconds over Piastri with Norris holding third, Leclerc fourth, Russell fifth, Alonso sixth, Ocon seventh, Hamilton eighth, Bearman ninth as Bortoleto rounded out the top ten for Sauber in their final Grand Prix before they become the works Audi team.

 

Lap 50 – Norris was the de facto Champion on paper at this stage of proceedings and has put his foot down again and took a couple of tenths out of fourth-placed Leclerc. The Monegasque driver had driven well, hard but fair. But he seemed out of ideas over how to get on that rostrum.

 

The 51^st tour – Verstappen’s lead was just under 18 seconds over Piastri, as Norris was encouraged on by his Race Engineer.

 

Lap 52 – Norris was asked about his Safety Car preference, should there be any late chaos and he agreed he would switch to the softer compound. The laps were coming down towards his maiden crown.

 

Lap 53 – The situation was Verstappen started on pole; he led at the start and the Dutchman looked to have the win sewn up. But the win was never going to be enough for the Red Bull driver.

 

He said he needed luck behind; he did not have any – Leclerc could not do the Dutchman a favour tonight.

 

Behind them, Norris was starting to close in on Piastri as Leclerc continued to drop away.

 

The 54^th lap – Piastri was closing on Verstappen, but not enough. Norris was closing in on his McLaren team-mate and was 3.2 seconds behind but will also run out of time to fight for second place.

 

The three title contenders started in the top three grid slots and are heading for the podium slots.

 

The 55^th tour – Norris was just 2.6 seconds behind his team-mate Piastri, perhaps hoping to cross the line together as McLaren chase a second title having already sealed the Constructor’s Championship earlier.

 

Leclerc’s charge had drifted away in fourth, Russell was a lonely fifth. Ferrari and Mercedes tried, but they could not disrupt the Championship battle.

 

Lap 56 – Stroll overtook Bortoleto for tenth place, so Sauber look set to leave the sport without a final score of a point.

 

Up-front, Verstappen was leading by 13.9 seconds, and Norris was now 2.8 second behind his team-mate Piastri. But the Championship was almost in his hands.

 

The penultimate lap – Verstappen was heading for the win, but the number one was about to leave the Red Bull.

 

Verstappen crossed the line to take the Abu Dhabi GP victory but just missed out on his fifth consecutive World Driver’s Championship crown by two points as Norris crossed the line to take the title after finishing third place. Piastri brought his MCL39 entry home second.

 

Leclerc crossed the line in fourth place and ahead of Russell who took fifth and Alonso who finished an impressive sixth for Aston Martin.

 

Ocon reached the chequered flag seventh and in-front of Hamilton who was eighth.

 

Sauber’s Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Stroll completed the top ten.

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2025 Abu Dhabi GP – The Top Three

 

 

2025 Abu Dhabi GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – (25 Points):

To Come

 

2^nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +12.594s – (18 Points):

To Come

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3rd Place – 2025 World Driver’s Champion – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +16.572s – (15 Points):

 

 

“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!”

“As we’ve seen many times, anything can happen. So, I just kept pushing. I wanted to fight to the end. [Verstappen and Piastri] certainly did not make my life easy this year. But I am happy! It has been a long journey with McLaren; I’ve been with them for nine years. For me to bring something back to them, I feel like I did my part for the team this year. So, I’m proud of myself, but I’m more proud of everything I have made cry.

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Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (58 Laps)

 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	58	1:26:07.469	25
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	58	+12.594s	18
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	58	+16.572s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+23.279s	12
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	58	+48.563s	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	58	+67.562s	8
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	58	+69.876s	6
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	58	+72.670s	4
9	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	58	+74.523s	2
10	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	58	+76.166s	1
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	58	+79.014s
12	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	58	+81.043s
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	58	+82.158s
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	58	+83.794s
15	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	58	+84.399s
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	58	+90.327s
17	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap
18	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap
19	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	57	+1 lap
20	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	57	+1 lap

 

FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2025 – RACE RESULT

 

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

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#F1 #Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen grabs crucial #AbuDhabiGP pole position.