Norris secures maiden F1 title in Abu Dhabi with podium finish behind Verstappen and Piastri

Lando Norris soaked up the pressure of a nervy Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to finish on the podium and in turn secure the F1 Drivers’ Championship for the first time – following rivals Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri home.

Norris started the title-deciding race from second on the grid, between Red Bull racer Verstappen and McLaren team mate Piastri, knowing that finishing in the top three places would be enough to put the 2025 crown beyond doubt.

A bold Piastri move demoted Norris to third on the opening lap, before attacks from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, a spell in traffic after his first pit stop and a wheel-to-wheel moment with the other Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda put the Briton under pressure.

Norris, though, dealt with everything that was thrown at him to cross the line in third and clinch the title over Verstappen and Piastri, who both delivered flawless races en route to the win and second position respectively.

At the end of it all, just two points separated Norris and Verstappen at the top of the World Championship standings, given the 10-point swing at the Yas Marina Circuit, with Piastri finishing 11 points further back.

A spirited Leclerc wound up fourth, some seven seconds behind Norris, followed by the lead Mercedes of George Russell, the high-flying Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, and the squabbling Haas and Ferrari cars of Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton.

As well as Hamilton’s recovery, Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg made up plenty of ground to end his 250th race in ninth, while Lance Stroll took the final point in 10th, despite a penalty for erratic driving.

Ollie Bearman was another to be hit with a late penalty for more than one change of direction in a battle with Stroll, leaving him 12th behind Gabriel Bortoleto. Carlos Sainz took 13th for Williams, with Tsunoda a penalised 14th after earning a five-second time penalty for his mid-race defence against Norris on an offset tyre strategy.

Next up was Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes, from Williams’ Alex Albon, who took a penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and the Racing Bulls cars of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson – the former losing out with an early stop and the latter penalised for a clash with Bearman.

Alpine brought up their usual 2025 positions at the rear of the field, with Pierre Gasly ending the day a couple of seconds up on Franco Colapinto, despite also being penalised for exceeding track limits.

AS IT HAPPENED

After 23 action-packed rounds and a host of twists and turns, it all came down to this: three drivers in contention for the 2025 Drivers’ Championship, with 58 more laps deciding whether it would go to Norris, Verstappen or Piastri.

While Norris headed into the weekend with the points advantage, sitting 12 clear of Verstappen and a further four ahead of Piastri, it was the Red Bull man who seized the initiative in Qualifying to claim pole position over the McLaren pair.

It set up a tantalising prospect for race day, with the nerves, excitement and anticipation building throughout the afternoon before the sun set over the Yas Marina Circuit, the floodlights switched on, and the all-important start approached.

When the cars lined up on the grid, with a one-stop strategy expected, it was revealed that the majority of drivers would be starting on the medium tyres, with Piastri, Tsunoda, Antonelli and Stroll going for hards, and Hamilton, Albon and Hulkenberg taking softs.

A few anxious moments later, it was time for lights out – Verstappen making a strong enough getaway to keep his pole advantage from Norris and Piastri, with Leclerc and Alonso squabbling in fourth and fifth, and Russell dropping to sixth.

Halfway around the lap, Piastri pulled off one of the moves of the season – and no doubt raised heart rates on the McLaren pit wall – with an audacious move on team mate Norris around the outside of Turn 9, despite him running that harder rubber.

Norris still held the position and points he needed to secure the crown, but with Leclerc and Alonso hovering in his mirrors. On Lap 4, Leclerc piled the pressure on with his own DRS-assisted look into Turn 9, but he could not quite make it stick.

Russell reported a long brake pedal after his tricky start, which included a heap of wheelspin, but that did not stop him from reclaiming fifth by passing Alonso into the Turn 6/7 chicane. Behind them, Bortoleto held seventh over Hadjar and Ocon, with Tsunoda rounding out the top 10.

Elsewhere, Colapinto was noted for a start procedure infringement, as well as Hamilton and Albon and Antonelli and Stroll for midfield battles – the latter two regarding drivers leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

“This is good for now Max. We may wish to go longer, so just keep on top,” was the message to race leader Verstappen at this point. Shortly afterwards, Hulkenberg became the first driver to pit, swapping his softs for a set of hards.

With the race reaching double lap figures, Piastri received a hurry-up from his engineer to go and chase Verstappen, and in turn give Norris a little more clean air to work with. Norris was informed of that message and continued to hover precariously around the one-second DRS window back to Leclerc.

Another incident involving Gasly and Hulkenberg was noted and dismissed at this point, while Lawson and Bearman came under the stewards’ microscope for alleged erratic driving – the New Zealander subsequently being given a five-second penalty.

Russell, Hadjar and Bearman were the next drivers to pit, swapping their medium tyres for hards. Would Ferrari and McLaren respond by pitting Leclerc and Norris? McLaren’s mechanics initially came out into the pit lane, but then returned to the garage.

“Keep building this gap on Leclerc, it gives us choices,” was the next message to Norris. Then, at the end of Lap 16, the Briton headed for the pits along with Leclerc and Alonso. Crucially, Norris rejoined ahead of Russell, but with a lot of midfield runners to clear.

Verstappen and Piastri (understandably given his more durable tyres) stayed out for the time being, with just under two seconds between the pair. “Oscar, do you think we could do Plan A?” Piastri’s engineer enquired. “I think it’s doable for now,” came the reply.

While the top two pressed ahead, Norris had his hands full behind yet-to-pit cars, forcing decisive moves on Antonelli, Stroll and Lawson to regain clear air. A little bit further back, Leclerc was noted for moving under braking in a battle with Russell, before both looked to replicate Norris’ charge through the traffic.

Next up for Norris? Outgoing Red Bull man Tsunoda. “We expect Norris to be in your DRS within one lap. All you can when he catches,” the Japanese racer was told over the radio. “I know what to do, so leave to me,” he hit back.

On Lap 23, Norris got within that DRS window – Tsunoda almost forcing the championship contender onto the grass as they charged towards the Turn 6/7 chicane, but Norris keeping his cool under braking to make the move stick and edge one step closer to the crown.

However, a couple of messages soon followed from the stewards and added some more jeopardy to the situation. One being for Tsunoda allegedly forcing Norris off the track, and one being for Norris allegedly leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

A lap later, leader Verstappen decided it was the right time to pit and swap his medium tyres for hards, releasing Piastri into the lead. Norris, meanwhile, got his head down to pump in a series of fastest laps and create a two-second buffer over Leclerc.

The wait for the stewards’ decisions was a short one, with Tsunoda being given a five-second penalty due to his weaving, and no further action being taken on Norris’ overtake, serving as a huge boost for the latter’s title aspirations.

“Penalty?! What penalty, bro?!” Tsunoda shouted over the radio when informed of his penalty. At the same time, the stewards confirmed that there would be no further action over Leclerc and Russell’s earlier scrap at Turn 9.

After 33 laps, the yet-to-stop Piastri led Verstappen by some 11 seconds, with Norris five seconds further back in third, from Leclerc, Russell, Stroll (also yet to pit), Alonso, Bortoleto, Ocon and Hulkenberg, who had Bearman all over his tail in the fight for the final point.

Williams were having a quiet race, with Sainz and Albon running 12th and 13th, ahead of early-stopper Hadjar, the Alpines of Gasly and Colapinto, Hamilton (who had moved to a two-stop strategy), the penalised Tsunoda, Lawson and Antonelli.

“The rear’s starting to get a bit worse now,” reported leader Piastri over the radio as the laps ticked by – the gap back to Verstappen coming down to six seconds, with Norris and Leclerc also closing in rapidly.

On Lap 40, with Piastri still circulating up front, Leclerc headed to the pit lane for a second time to take on fresh medium tyres, prompting Norris to cover that off next time around (fitting hards). At the back, Albon was given a five-second penalty for speeding on his own visit to the pits.

Not long after that, Verstappen got himself into Piastri’s DRS window and breezed past the McLaren down the back straight. A few corners later, Piastri made his long-awaited pit stop and moved over to the medium tyres for the final few laps.

Piastri was told to hunt down Verstappen – now 24 seconds clear – on his fresh rubber, but while he would cut that number in half over the remaining laps, the top two positions were essentially locked in, and all the attention turned back to Norris.

After that early pressure from Leclerc, Norris had managed to build a more comfortable margin, with more than five seconds now separating the two drivers, meaning all the champion-elect had to do was keep things under control until the finish.

Keep it under control is exactly what he did and, just over 15 seconds after Verstappen took a deserved final win of the season, Norris secured the third position he required to earn the title and write his name into the F1 history books.

Leclerc took the best of the rest accolade in fourth, from Russell and Alonso, as Ocon pipped Hamilton to seventh after a fierce late-race battle, Hulkenberg came home ninth and the late-stopping Stroll bagged the final point – even with a penalty for erratic driving against Sainz.

Bortoleto just missed out on a point in 11th, with Bearman dropping from ninth to 12th after a penalty for making more than one change of direction in a late fight with Stroll, Sainz winding up 13th and Tsunoda – after his own penalty – having to settle for 14th.

Albon joined Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton and Hulkenberg in making two stops, but could only place 16th, behind Antonelli, with the Racing Bulls featuring down in 17th and 18th after difficult races for 2026 Red Bull driver Hadjar and Lawson.

A five-second penalty for exceeding track limits on multiple occasions did little to impact Gasly’s evening, as the Frenchman placed a lapped 19th over team mate Colapinto at the end of a season Alpine will be keen to move on from.

As the drivers returned to the pits for one last time in 2025, one man stood above the rest – Norris completing a series of donuts on the main straight before climbing atop his McLaren, taking in the cheers from the crowd and starting to process what he had just achieved.

Key quote

“Oh God! I’ve not cried in a while,” said Norris. “I didn’t think I’d cry but I did. It’s a long journey. First of all, I want to say a big thanks to my guys, everyone at McLaren, my parents... I’m not crying! My mum, my dad, they were the ones who supported me since the beginning.

“It feels amazing. Now I know what Max feels like a little bit, and I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors all season. It’s been a pleasure to race against both of them, and I’ve learnt a lot from both of them as well. I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been a long year, but we did it, and I’m so proud of everyone.”

What’s next

F1 drivers and teams will now take a break over the winter before returning to action ahead of the 2026 season in a private test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from January 26-30.