Formula 1

Pride and grit, Verstappen wins in Abu Dhabi but not enough. Norris is world champion

by Alex D'Agosta

7 December 2025

Red Bull's Max Verstappen Oscar Piastri e terzo posto McLaren's Lando Norris

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

British car and driver. Long in the lead this year, they made it. In the McLaren house, this did not happen in 2008, with a certain Lewis Hamilton. Today a 26-year-old (the eleventh with his nationality in the history of the sport) who has been able to do his job with calculation and consistency even in difficult times becomes champion. Reduced by a last race in the United Arab Emirates that could still have changed everything, the not-so-young Norris was able to capitalise on a golden season for his single-seater, which had already proved itself at the top from the outset and which had long since won the constructor's championship.

And so ended a season where Max Verstappen has done nothing wrong for a long time, but neither has his rival. Max Verstappen 'loses' is definitely more 'true' than the claim that Norris won in the stomach of everyone on the race wall. The Dutchman, a four-time world champion, has had perfect races and weekends for a long time. He has scored podiums in the last ten races, including six wins. Only Red Bull was not up to the 'papaya' in the first part of the championship and so the disadvantage created became unbridgeable. Despite an epic comeback that will be talked about for a long time. And there will be no shortage of controversy, including the famous two points scored by Norris over Antonelli last weekend, despite the Italian's having run to justify it with objective data.

A three-way final, for the good of sport

That of 2025 is the twelfth rainbow final in which at least three drivers arrive at the last race with mathematical chances of winning the world championship. Not a rarity in the history of Formula 1, which has only offered this kind of scenario in particularly dense and competitive years, but not too frequent either. Certainly, a great occasion to keep many fans glued to the screen, even if at other times there has been much backlash and resentment.

After departure, still all day

Impeccable drive by Max Verstappen, who at the start leaves no room for the McLarens and immediately launches himself to protect first position. Norris holds second place, but already on the first lap, with a manoeuvre on the outside of what would normally be a 'slap in the face' for the underdog, Piastri manages to overtake him, surprising the entire McLaren box. If it were not for the fact that 'the podium was enough', in such a case a team order to return position could certainly have been triggered.

It was also a good start for Charles Leclerc, who took fourth position ahead of Russell. For Mercedes it was a complicated start: Russell not only missed the attack on Leclerc, but shortly afterwards was also passed by a brilliant Fernando Alonso. Two positions lost in the very first laps represent a hard blow for the team from Brackley, which on the eve of the race had vowed not to 'interfere' in the world championship fight, while still keeping an eye on the safety margin in the constructors' standings.

The first thrill: Leclerc in Drs on Norris

On lap four comes the first real gasp: Leclerc opens the DRS and drives into Norris' mirrors. It is significant because this is the last race in the Formula 1 era in which the moving wing is used for overtaking - a historical detail that many in the teams pointed out during the weekend.

Meanwhile, Verstappen tries to impose his pace, but Piastri remains surprisingly close on early passes, a sign of a very competitive McLaren even with high fuel loads.

It is not long before we see the first strategies on the field. George Russell is the first of the big boys to stop: Mercedes tries an aggressive move to avoid getting caught in traffic. From the McLaren box, meanwhile, Norris is asked to maintain a two-second margin over Leclerc, to avoid a possible Ferrari undercut. Shortly afterwards Norris and Leclerc also stop: regular stops, with virtually identical strategies for both. Back on track, both Lando and Charles end up in traffic, an element that will heavily influence this central phase of the race.

Norris's traffic and overtaking: the moment of spectacle

It is here that Norris builds a crucial part of his race: after the stop he has to overtake a large group of drivers who are slower but equipped with fresher tyres or different compounds. And it was on lap eighteen that one of the most intense moments of the race unfolded, when Norris first got rid of Sainz and Antonelli, then pulled off a masterful double overtaking move on Lawson and Stroll in the space of a few hundred metres.

Meanwhile, Verstappen continues to manage a high pace in the first stint, but with the increasing wear of his mediums he struggles to keep up with Piastri, who, even on hard tyres, remains glued to Red Bull.

In a few minutes, on lap twenty-three, another key episode: Norris completed a very aggressive overtaking move on Tsunoda, launching himself outside almost beyond the limits of the track. It was a manoeuvre on the limit that gave him third place, while the Japanese driver, as confirmed over the radio, was ready to defend his position to help Piastri in the world title fight. A few laps later and Verstappen has no choice but to change strategy, anticipating his own second stint. It's a move that opens up the possibility of either gambling everything on a long race finish, or preparing for a possible second pit stop should the degradation prove to be higher than expected. Unfortunately for him, nothing special happened. A finish with Verstappen, Piastri and Norris did not change the fortunes of the provisional classification already predicted by many.

A sad ending for Ferrari

Leclerc managed to complete the final round of 2025 in line with his 'usual' performance of the year and less in trouble than at other times: fifth in the race and fifth overall; not too bad considering the team is fourth. For the series: it could have ended even worse. In short, fifth as in 2023. With Antonelli out and Tsunoda, already sacked, unable to finish in the points, Russell's Mercedes was 'content' with fifth place as second place in the constructors' championship was easily guaranteed anyway.

Hamilton, for his part, is becoming a champion of negative records at Ferrari: he has practically worsened even Fisichella's brief appearance, who had never driven a single-seater as far back in the world championship. But with twenty-four races without even a podium finish (not counting sprints), in the mind of a seven-time world champion, of his age and with his image, in the course of the next few weeks it is not out of the question for him to even consider an early retirement. Or rather: while speaking almost monosyllabically for the past couple of weeks, he has reiterated that such a scenario would be 'out of the question' at the moment. But many did not believe him. It is to be hoped that, in such a sad eventuality, he will at least wait to see what the 2026 car, completely revolutionised according to the regulations, will look like.

A historic last chapter: farewell to Sauber

The Abu Dhabi race also brings to a close the long history of Sauber as we have known it since 1993, on the eve of its handover to Audi. In three decades, the Swiss team has built much more than its own palmarès, reaching fourth place in the 2001 World Championship and finding its highest point in the BMW era, with Kubica's victory in Canada 2008 and a total of twenty-eight podiums. It has been a hotbed of talent, from Raikkonen to Massa, who scored his first world championship points here. For Italy, the contribution of Andrea De Cesaris remains, called up after the Monaco feat in 1994 and still able to bring points in a difficult year.