Lando Norris won the 2025 Formula 1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 7. Although Max Verstappen won the race and Norris won third place, his podium was just enough to keep his points lead over Verstappen in the championship standings and secure his first driver’s championship title.
After the race, Norris had 423 points, just two points ahead of Verstappen. If Norris had finished any lower, Verstappen would have completed a historic comeback from his over 100-point deficit nine races ago.
Although Norris started in second, he was passed on Lap 1 by his teammate Oscar Piastri and had to fight off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for most of the race. Verstappen, Piastri and Norris finished first, second and third, respectively.
Behind them were Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell. Fernando Alonso outperformed himself in Abu Dhabi. His result from P6 on Sunday, Dec. 7 was a standout in his rough season with Aston Martin. Lewis Hamilton also made a comeback, starting 16th and finishing in eighth.
After the dust settled in Abu Dhabi, the driver’s championship standings start with Norris in first, followed by Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton and Andrea “Kimi” Antonelli, all representing the top four teams.
The constructors’ championship top four were McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. Williams came in fifth, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. and team principal James Vowles, putting an end to their nearly decade-long decline in performance.
The finale of the season was emotional for maiden title winner Norris. “I’ve not cried in a while. I didn’t think I’d cry, but I did,” he said. For him, the season finale was “pretty surreal.”
Meanwhile, on Norris becoming the 35th ever F1 champion, both Piastri and Norris chose to look on the bright side.
Piastri said that “on the personal level, it’s obviously not quite the ending that I wished for,” but that he was “very proud of the work that I’ve been able to put in.”
Verstappen said that “today has been fun” and that despite his loss, he thought that “if you look from where we were in Zandvoort, more than 100 behind, then I think it’s not too bad.” His sentiments were best expressed when he claimed, “Life goes on.”
Now that the 2025 season is over, F1 will start preparing for 2026. The off-season will last until February 2026, when testing begins at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain.
It remains to be seen whether or not McLaren will be able to defend their championship titles.
Starting next year, F1 cars will follow completely new regulations with smaller, thinner chassis and new aerodynamic concepts.
The top four teams will likely remain the frontrunners, but as they head into 2026, Aston Martin might be a team to watch. They will be spearheaded by Adrian Newey, the legendary aerodynamicist with 26 titles under his belt since 1992. Among other projects, he worked on the RB19, the car with a 95%-win rate in 2023 –the highest in F1 history. Whether his experience as an aerodynamicist will translate to his new role as team principal remains to be seen.
As the off-season begins, the field reset provided by the new regulations means F1 fans can look forward to an exciting, unpredictable year in a few months.
