Abu Dhabi, December 07: The 2025 Formula 1 season ended with a dramatic and action-packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the final race of the year, finishing ahead of McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. But despite Verstappen’s strong performance and pole position, it was Norris who celebrated the biggest achievement of the day, his maiden Formula 1 World Championship. Becomes 35th man to win the Formula One Racing Championship.
At the start, Verstappen made a clean getaway from pole, holding the inside line at Turn 1. Behind him, the three title contenders - Verstappen, Norris and Piastri - lined up exactly as they had qualified. But the calm did not last long. McLaren had split tyre strategies, putting Norris on mediums (same as Verstappen) and Piastri on hards. Even with harder tyres, Piastri had an excellent launch and stayed close to his championship rivals.
In a stunning move on the final sector of Lap 1, Piastri swept around the outside of Norris to take second place. Norris was briefly pushed down to third, adding pressure in a race where every point mattered for the title fight.
Further back on the grid, the opening lap was equally intense. George Russell slipped to sixth after losing ground to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Leclerc himself had to defend hard from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, narrowly keeping hold of fourth place.
The early tension followed a gripping qualifying session a day earlier, where Verstappen had taken pole position ahead of Norris and Piastri. Right behind them on the grid were some of the fastest starters in the sport - Russell, Leclerc, and Alonso - setting the stage for a high-stakes finale. Rookies like Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli also hoped to finish their debut seasons strongly, while Lewis Hamilton, starting from P16 after a difficult qualifying, faced a tough climb.
Despite all the on-track battles, Verstappen maintained control of the race from the front and crossed the finish line first. But Lando Norris, with enough points from his consistent season and a solid P3 finish, sealed the 2025 Drivers’ Championship - the first of his career.
The season ended with Verstappen as the Abu Dhabi race winner, Piastri in second, Norris crowned world champion and Formula 1 fans treated to a finale filled with strategy, overtakes and historic moments.
