Lando Norris played it safe and won the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship by finishing third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Deposed champion Max Verstappen managed to win at Yas Marina on Sunday 7 December, but it wasn’t enough at the end of the day as Norris pipped him by two points to take the title.
The British driver becomes the first world champion for McLaren since Lewis Hamilton achieved it in 2008. Oscar Piastri, who was third in the standings and an outside chance of winning the title, finished second. Norris became the 35th different world champion in F1’s 75-year history and the 11th British driver to win the title. Norris needed to finish third in the race to win the title, even if Verstappen won, and decided to take it easy and not chase the race win to take the title.
F1 2025: The best of the Abu Dhabi GP
Verstappen soon takes the lead
It was Verstappen who made the best start, holding off Norris and Piastri into the first corner to take the lead. It was a terrible start for Norris as he lost a place to Piastri and was then chased by Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari.
Norris was able to contain the pressure and decided to play it safe, something he alluded to after qualifying. Verstappen slowly built an early lead over Piastri, who was on hard compound tires at the start of the race.
It was Norris who bluffed at the front and pitted on lap 16 to get hard tires on his car. Despite being stuck in traffic, the McLaren’s speed helped him quickly move up the ranks.
Leclerc seemed to be on Norris’ tail throughout the race, McLaren looked to have the pace.
McLaren works well in the pits
Zak Brown’s team has been criticized for their pit stop strategy for much of the season, with Qatar being a prime example. However, they played it perfectly at Yas Marina. Piastri was forced to sit out until the 42nd round to give him some medium. They panicked a bit when Leclerc performed an undercut and switched to medium on lap 44. But Norris started calmly and maintained his lead enough to keep his distance from Leclerc.
During this time, Piastri was asked to ensure Verstappen’s window for a second pit stop was cut, meaning the Dutchman needed a miracle and help from Leclerc to win the championship.
He was able to keep his distance from Piastri towards the end to secure another win, his sixth in the last 10 races, to cap off a stunning second half of the season. But the winning moment ultimately belonged to Norris, who was emotional in the car as celebrations erupted in the paddock.
Norris ended 2024 by declaring that 2025 would be his year. And when the tire smoke cleared after the usual donuts, it was time for the 26-year-old to call himself world champion for the first time in his career.
ABU DHABI GP: Results
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1st – Max Verstappen
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2nd – Oscar Piastri
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3rd – Lando Norris
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4. – Charles Leclerc
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5. – George Russell
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6. – Fernando Alonso
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7. – Esteban Ocon
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8. – Lewis Hamilton
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9. – Nico Hlkenberg
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10. – Lance Stroll
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11. – Gabriel Bortoleto
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12. – Oliver Bearman
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13. – Carlos Sainz Jr.
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14. – Yuki Tsunoda
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15. – Andrea Kimi Antonelli
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16. – Alex Albon
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17. – Isack Hadjar
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18th – Liam Lawson
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19. – Pierre Gasly
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20. – Franco Colapinto
Final standings of F1
- Lando Norris – 423 points
- Max Verstappen – 421 points
- Oscar Piastri 410 points
– The end
Published on:
December 7, 2025
