Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands waves towards the crowd on the podium after the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

ABU DHABI — The sun was literally setting on the Yas Marina circuit during the dusk-to-night race, providing both a visually stunning scene as well as a wonderful metaphor for the end of the Formula 1 (F1) season in 2025. Excitement has woven its way through nearly every race weekend this season, and the ending was no different as three drivers still had a chance to become the Driver’s World Champion.

Oscar Piastri, driving for McLaren, was once the leader by 34 points, but entered the weekend with the longest shot of becoming champion as he was 16 points behind. Max Verstappen, current champion for four years running with Red Bull Racing, was once down by as much as 104 points, but entered the weekend only 12 points behind. Lando Norris, Piastri’s McLaren teammate, was the title favorite from the beginning of the season and held the lead entering the final race.

The permutations were numerous, but the most important metric was that Norris simply needed to make it to the podium to secure his championship. Fitting to the excitement, the three contenders lined up in the first three spots after qualifying with Verstappen getting pole position, followed by Norris in second, and Piastri in third. The first two took the conventional strategy, starting with medium tires on their car, while Piastri took hard tires. Hypothetically that would hinder Piastri’s start, but give him the chance to drive longer into the race than those behind.

When the lights went out and the drivers took off, Verstappen had a mediocre start and cut sharply to his left to stymy any chance Norris had of coming along side him. As the first lap progressed, Piastri got a run on Norris and managed to pass him around the outside in an audacious move. Piastri kept Verstappen within three seconds from there on, but was never able to make it too close to the leader. Norris, on the other hand, had Charles Leclerc driving his Ferrari right onto the gearbox of the McLaren.

Norris’ engineer came on the radio to say the team was comfortable with the situation if Norris was. Norris responded by putting in the fastest first sector of the race, showing he would be far more comfortable with a little more space between himself and the Ferrari.

Verstappen and Piastri kept status quo at the front of the pack, but Leclerc decided to make an early pitstop and try an undercut on Norris. McLaren knew Norris needed a top three finish, so they took no chances and pitted Norris. This put him into a lot of traffic, so Norris would either need to pass them quickly or risk falling further into the clutches of Leclerc behind. Passing has its own risks, however, which Norris would be wary of.

Fresher tires proved pivotal as Norris was able to pass both Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes and Liam Lawson’s Racing Bull in the same corner. Soon, the only car Norris had left to pass was Yuki Tsunoda. The problem? Tsunoda is Verstappen’s teammate and would not yield easily.

Rewind, for a moment, to 2021, the year Verstappen claimed his maiden Driver’s World Championship by beating Lewis Hamilton (then driving for Mercedes) in a crazy final race. Verstappen’s teammate at the time was Sergio Perez. When Hamilton came up to Perez on track, the Red Bull driver put on an amazing defensive driving show, slowing Hamilton up by more than eight seconds on track.

While that total may not seem impressive, the sport is measured down to the thousandths of a second, so losing eight full seconds was catastrophic for Hamilton’s race. In what was one of the most nail-biting races in the history of the sport, Verstappen capitalized on his teammates help to win the Championship.

All eyes, therefore, were on Tsunoda. The team came on the radio, telling him Norris would be behind him within a lap and he was to give it everything he had. He replied, saying he knew what to do and just to leave him to it. Norris closed up…

And immediately roared past. Tsunoda tried a few moves and pushed Norris to the edge of the track, but the McLaren driver didn’t hesitate in using the pavement past the white lines to get by. The stewards investigated the incident because drivers cannot gain advantage by driving off track. Tsunoda was actually slapped with a five-second penalty for performing too many moves on the driver behind and forcing Norris off the track. Perhaps Red Bull should’ve waited another week to tell their driver he didn’t have a seat next season.

While basically anything could still happen, no other dramatic moments unfolded for the top three drivers. Verstappen took home the win, Piastri finished a strong season with a second place, but Norris kept third and won his first championship by two points. Clearly emotional on the radio after the race, listening to numerous congratulations coming from his team, Norris sent his thanks and, between a few sobs, got out a message of, “Thanks for everything… I’m not crying!”

Verstappen, to his credit, said, “Congrats guys, what a second half of the season. We can be really, really proud of that. Don’t be too disappointed. I’m definitely not disappointed. I’m really proud of everyone to not give up.” He is typically a person who doesn’t mince words and will unapologetically say whatever he is thinking. Because of that, this sentiment comes off as purely genuine and excellent wording for the outgoing champion.

F1 celebrated its 75th season in 2025, and crowned just its 35th champion. There has been a repeat champion more frequently than a new champion in the history of the sport, an interesting statistical tidbit. This marks the first Driver’s World Champion for McLaren since 2008, and the 11th British driver to take home the championship.

The close margin at the front, just two points, is actually not the closest championship total. One point separated the champion from second place n 1958, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1981, 1994, 2007, 2008, and by just half a point in 1984! That doesn’t cheapen the closeness of this season by any stretch though as the 24 races in 2025 is far more than any of the other years on the list. Verstappen had 8 wins, while Norris and Piastri both had 7, showing how back-and-forth the season truly was.

In short, Abu Dhabi provided an exciting conclusion to a thrilling year of F1 racing in 2025. Norris did everything he needed to do in order to secure his title, but no one, least of all the fans, should walk away from this race or this season disappointed in the show that was put on.