Max Verstappen and Lando Norris speak after the 2025 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
(Photo: Zak Mauger/LAT Images via Red Bull Content Pool)

Max Verstappen Wins Grand Prix, Lando Norris Wins 2025 F1 Drivers’ Title in Abu Dhabi

by

Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday (Dec. 12), but a third-place finish for Lando Norris was enough for the McLaren driver to take his first World Drivers’ Championship by two points. Oscar Piastri came home in second place after passing Norris on the opening lap.

“I didn’t think I’d cry, but I did,” an emotional Norris explained. “It feels amazing. Now I know what Max feels like a little bit. It’s been a pleasure racing against Max and Oscar. It was a long race, and we’ve seen many times in F1 that anything can happen. I’m just crazy happy.”

Charles Leclerc finished in fourth, followed by George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Esteban Ocon. Lewis Hamilton, having failed to get out of Q1 for the third race in a row, finished eighth. Ollie Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.

F1 Championship Preview: Lando Norris Is Sort of in the Catbirdʻs Seat

The beginning of the race saw the three championship contenders occupying the first three grid positions: Verstappen on pole, and the two McLarens of Norris and Piastri in second and third, respectively. Russell was in fourth and Leclerc in fifth.

The McLarens had split their tire strategy: Norris was on the yellow-striped medium compound, while Piastri was on the hard compound, which has greater durability but slightly less performance. As with Norris, Verstappen was on mediums.

All drivers had a clean start, with the leaders all holding position through the opening corners. Despite being on the hard tires, Piastri managed to pass Norris for second place into the sweeping turn 9.

When DRS was enabled on the second lap, both Verstappen and Piastri had opened a gap of more than one second, but Norris was being challenged by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

By lap 14, Leclerc had fallen off the back of Norris, and Piastri’s more durable tires were beginning to show their strength, allowing him to take four tenths out of Verstappen’s lead.

Norris pitted from third position on lap 16, followed by the Ferrari of Leclerc. Norris rejoined the track in ninth position. Crucially, he was several positions behind the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who had started the race on hard tires. This gave Red Bull a chance to hold Norris up with their second car, and a team radio call to Tsunoda confirmed this.

Verstappen stopped for hard tires on lap 24 and rejoined the track almost five seconds ahead of Norris. Piastri was now leading the race, but was yet to stop.

On lap 39, Leclerc took to the pit lane for a second stop, and McLaren responded by calling in Norris one lap later. The Briton remained in third position.

Meanwhile, Verstappen passed Piastri for the lead. Piastri was called in for his first stop of the race a few turns after, and rejoined the track in second position.

The final round of stops was also the last chance that something could go wrong for Norris. The top four cars held position for the remaining laps, Verstappen taking the win, but a third place for Norris was enough to claim the 2025 Driver’s World Championship.

2025 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Results

The 2026 F1 season will begin on March 8 with the Australian Grand Prix. Coverage in the United States will be provided by Apple TV.

Donate to Frontstretch

Peter Molloy began following Formula 1 during the 1985 Australian Grand Prix. He cheered for a certain Ayrton Senna, who was driving the same black and gold colors as a toy F1 car that Pete had been given. Pete continued to be a fan of Senna throughout his childhood. Fast forward many moons, and Peter now combines significant journalistic experience with decades of watching F1 to cover the latest on-track and off-track action.

email: [email protected]

Thanks for choosing to comment on this article. A name and email address are required to post a comment. The email address is not publicly visible or shared. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated according to our comment policy.

1 thought on “Max Verstappen Wins Grand Prix, Lando Norris Wins 2025 F1 Drivers’ Title in Abu Dhabi”

Comments are closed.