Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit 2025

STARTING GRID: 1) VERSTAPPEN 2) NORRIS 3) PIASTRI 4) RUSSELL 5) LECLERC 6) ALONSO 7) BORTOLETO 8) OCON 9) HADJAR 10) TSUNODA 11) BEARMAN 12) SAINZ 13) LAWSON 14) ANTONELLI 15) STROLL 16) HAMILTON 17) ALBON 18) HULKENBERG 19) GASLY 20) COLAPINTO 

LAP 1: Into the first corner, Verstappen was quick to get in front of Norris on the inside to prevent a move into the first corner. It worked for Verstappen as he kept the lead with Norris and Piastri just behind. A bad start for Russell as he was overtaken by both Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc before the first corner. 

There was a good start for Hamilton as well who made up a good amount of places on the first lap also. However, the situation for McLaren and Norris became slightly complex as Piastri overtook Norris round the outside on turn 9. 

LAP 8: A 3rd place finish would still have been enough to make him World Champion but the pace of the Ferrari behind him seemed to put him under pressure with Leclerc in the DRS. The situation developed to McLaren needing to tell Piastri to put pressure on Verstappen and move away from Norris to give him some clean air to create a gap and break the DRS. 

LAP 17: At the time of the first pit stops the gap had grown to nearly 2.5 seconds with a good pit stop for both. However, they both came out behind traffic and a 3 car DRS train that they both needed to pass as soon as they could to lose as little time as possible to their competitors. 

LAP 18: No time was wasted by Lando Norris and he dived up the inside of turn 5 to get past Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes. A move almost identical to the overtake that won the title for Max Verstappen on the last laps in 2021. Then a move up the inside of his former teammate Carlos Sainz into turn 9 gave him the lap he needed. 

LAP 19: The overtakes continued a lap later with Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson trying to defend from each other and Norris but he got past Stroll and outbraked Lawson on the back straight. A 2 for 1 move for the British driver as he moved past 4 cars in 2 laps as the team would have wanted as soon as possible. 

In the following laps, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc followed Lando in moving past the traffic ahead of them. He was back to within 1.7 seconds of Norris by lap 21. A reminder for McLaren that he was not going away anytime soon. 

LAP 21: Yuki Tsunoda is told that Norris will be within DRS within 1 lap and to give all he can when he catches up to him. The Japanese driver replies by saying he knows what to do and that he wants to be left alone. The last race for Tsunoda in a Red Bull which may have been on his mind during the exchange. 

LAP 23: At the start of the lap, Tsunoda is told that Leclerc is only 1.4 seconds behind Norris. A way to tell him to back him up as much as he can to give Leclerc the DRS on the McLaren if he can. 

On the back straight Norris opened to the DRS and closed in on Tsunoda. He responded by weaving on the straight multiple times to defend hard but Norris decided to go up the inside and past the Red Bull with relative ease. However, due to the weaving and being pushed out wide by the Red Bull Norris did appear to overtake off the track. 

LAP 32: The stewards did look into the incident and decided that Tsunoda was moving multiple times on the straight which resulted in a 5 second penalty for the Red Bull. Lando Norris was also investigated for leaving the track and gaining an advantage but no further action was taken against him. 

Yuki Tsunoda was given the news of the penalty over the radio and seemed confused as to why he was given a penalty for the incident. He was then told to keep his head down and deliver the past pace he could before his pit stop to serve the penalty. 

LAP 41: After Charles Leclerc tried to pit for the undercut on Lando Norris, McLaren decided to bring in Lando Norris to cover him off, which they did with a smooth pit stop. Norris on the hard tyre and Leclerc on the medium tyre but George Russell now in between the pair. 

On the same lap Max Verstappen retook the lead on the inside of turn 6. A move that seemed inevitable for the last 5 laps with the hard tyres of Piastri at the end of their stint. Piastri would then pit at the end of the lap, a lap later than planned due to the McLaren needing to cover Leclerc. 

LAP 48: In the last 15 laps of the race, Charles Leclerc seemed to regain his pace and was closing in again on Norris. However, by lap 50 the gap had reopened with the medium tyres starting to drop off and the hard tyres proving the best option at this part of the race. 

LAP 58: The race was won by Max Verstappen with a gap of just over 12.5 seconds to Oscar Piastri in 2nd. Lando Norris finished the race in 3rd, 3.6 seconds behind Piastri and 7 seconds ahead of Leclerc in 4th. A strong final race of the season for the Ferrari with great pace for large parts of the race, a positive looking end to a disappointing season for Ferrari. 

With a 3rd place finish being all he needed to win the title, Lando Norris became the 35th different World Champion in Formula 1 history! His maiden World Championship gave McLaren their first Drivers Championship since 2008 with Lewis Hamilton. A season to remember for Lando Norris and McLaren as they clinched both Constructors and Drivers World Championships. “I didn’t think I would cry but I did” said Norris in the post race interview. 

The title decider came down to just 2 points between reigning champion Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. A season of ups and downs between 3 drivers in Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen with the McLaren of Lando Norris coming out on top. There were periods of domination for each driver and team, with multiple changes of the lead, disqualifications, controversies and more over the 24 race weekends. 

George Russell finished the day in 5th with a steady race after a disappointing start to the race and finished the season in 4th place. The 6th place for Fernando Alonso meant that he finished the season in the top 10 of the World Championship. He leapfrogged Nico Hulkenberg who only managed 9th on the day which was not enough to keep 10th position. 

The double points finish for both Aston Martin’s ensure a 7th place finish for them in the constructors standings, which could be vital funding for their 2026 season. As well as the great drive and 7th place finish for Esteban Ocon in Abu Dhabi cementing an 8th place finish for the Haas team. Despite starting 16th Lewis Hamilton was able to make it into the points for 8th and double points for Ferrari. That ensured the Ferrari drivers ended the season 5th and 6th in the drivers championship. 

A season ending in 2025, with a new era of Formula 1 awaiting the teams and drivers in 2026. 24 race weekends in 21 different countries which all came down to the 58 laps in Abu Dhabi to decide the title. McLaren prevailed in the Constructors and Drivers Championships but were pushed right to the very end by Red Bull and Max Verstappen. A season to remember for Formula 1 with the dawn of a new era awaiting.

FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPION 2025 - LANDO NORRIS

RACE RESULT: 1) VERSTAPPEN 2) PIASTRI 3) NORRIS 4) LECLERC 5) RUSSELL 6) ALONSO 7) OCON 8) HAMILTON 9) HULKENBERG 10) STROLL 11) BORTOLETO 12) BEARMAN 13) SAINZ 14) TSUNODA 15) ANTONELLI 16) ALBON 17) HADJAR 18) LAWSON 19) GASLY 20) COLAPINTO