F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 Recap: Lando Norris hangs on to win the Drivers’ title

Despite some nervy moments, Lando Norris managed to do what he needed to and finished third at the 2025 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to secure the World Drivers’ Championship title.

The defending champion, Max Verstappen, finished on the top step of the podium, while Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, who had a distant shot at the title, finished second.

Norris took the title by the skin of his teeth, finishing two points ahead of Verstappen in the final Drivers’ standings and 13 in front of Piastri. Verstappen, despite relinquishing his crown, capped off a stellar year with Red Bull, finishing runner-up while not having the strongest car throughout the year.

For Piastri, it was a rather disappointing end to the season. He had the title in his grasp, but some poor performances in the second half of the season, as well as McLaren prioritising Norris over him, dented his title chances and he had to contend with a third-place finish.

Verstappen got the grid away for the final time this season once the lights went out, cutting right across to keep his lead from Norris, while Piastri was unable to catch his teammate at the start. Behind them, George Russell had a shocking start and dropped a couple of places right away, falling from P4 to P6.

Piastri swept past Norris at Turn 9 on the opening lap itself, making light work of his teammate. Russell made back a place on Lap 4, getting Fernando Alonso, while Charles Leclerc pressured Norris for P3.

Verstappen managed to open up a gap of more than two seconds to Piastri by Lap 5, with Norris a further second behind.

On Lap 9, Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon were among the first to pit. Both rejoined the track right at the back of the grid. Mercedes called in Russell on Lap 15, with Racing Bulls also calling Liam Lawson in on the same lap. A host of other cars followed into the pits in the following couple of laps, as the teams got their first — for many, the only — stop out of the way.

On Lap 17, Norris became the first of the frontrunners to pit, with Leclerc and Alonso also joining him in the pits the same lap. Norris rejoined in P9, with Leclerc right behind him, while a slow stop from Aston Martin dropped Alonso down to P15 upon re-entry.

Norris got Kimi Antonelli on Lap 18 for P8. He took two places in a lap, also picking off former teammate Carlos Sainz for P7. He continued to make up places as he got Lance Stroll and Lawson going into Turn 6 to move up to P4. On Lap 24, he got past Yuki Tsunoda, though he went off-track a bit. This saw him move back to P3, which was the lowest he could rank in the race to secure the Drivers’ title if Verstappen finished first.

The Dutchman got his stop done on Lap 24 and rejoined in second place behind Piastri, with Norris a further five seconds behind. By Lap 30, Piastri was leading the race and was the only one on the grid yet to stop, with Verstappen in second over ten seconds clear of Norris. Leclerc looked like he would catch Norris, having made his way up to P4 and showing strong race pace.

Leclerc came in for his second stop on Lap 40 and came out in P5, two-and-a-half seconds behind Russell. McLaren reacted immediately and called in Norris to address Leclerc’s undercut threat. The Brit rejoined comfortably in P3, while Verstappen took the lead from Piastri.

Piastri finally came in for his stop on Lap 42 and rejoined in second place, almost five seconds clear of Norris in third. Leclerc, meanwhile, flew past Russell for P4 the same lap, looking keen to chase down Norris for the final podium place and spoil his party.

However, in the end, Norris ramped up the pace and left Leclerc behind to secure the third-place finish he needed to win the 2025 Formula One World Drivers’ Championship, with Verstappen winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Piastri’s second-place finish secured him the third spot in the Drivers’ standings.

Leclerc finished fourth, 6.7 seconds behind Norris, with Russell, Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, and Ollie Bearman rounding out the points places, in that order, with Haas and Aston Martin ending the year with a strong double-points finish.