Lando Norris captures first Formula 1 championship after dramatic Abu Dhabi finale

December 8, 2025 Oliver Obel

For Norris, the weekend carried the weight of an entire era. Since debuting in 2019 as McLaren’s bright young prospect, he had come close to victories, podium runs, and even brief championship flirtations but never the full campaign required to topple Formula 1’s most dominant figure of the 2020s.

He entered the finale with a 12-point buffer over Max Verstappen, a margin large enough to control the championship but narrow enough to keep every strategic call tense. According to Sky Sports F1, Verstappen’s pole position on Saturday momentarily tightened the mood in the paddock, although Norris’s spot alongside him on the front row meant the fundamentals remained unchanged: finish on the podium, and the title was his.

Oscar Piastri, starting third, lingered on the mathematical fringe of contention. No one inside McLaren pretended the scenario was realistic unless both drivers ahead of him faltered.

A race that threatened to tilt in multiple directions

The first lap gave an early hint that the finale wouldn’t be a straightforward cruise. Piastri surged forward, making the most of his harder tyres to slip past Norris in the opening corners. McLaren CEO Zak Brown later told broadcasters that the move was not a surprise; the team had discussed letting Piastri push Verstappen, hoping a different tyre strategy might rattle the Red Bull driver’s rhythm.

From the pit lane, mechanics watched anxiously as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc began probing the back of Norris’s car. None of the moves stuck, but each attempt kept tension high on the McLaren pit wall.

When Norris made his first stop around a third of the way into the race, he rejoined behind a pocket of midfield traffic. His attempt to clear Yuki Tsunoda became one of the race’s most scrutinized moments. FIA stewards later explained that although Norris left the track during the pass, they determined no lasting advantage had been gained. Tsunoda, however, earned a weaving penalty—a call that sparked an agitated response from the outgoing Red Bull driver.

Control returns and so does the title

While Verstappen controlled the lead, the championship equation started to tilt decisively back toward Norris as tyre strategies converged. Norris’s final stop on lap 41 came off cleanly, and the McLaren pair coordinated their pace to ensure he rejoined in the critical third position.

That left a single threat: Charles Leclerc. If the Ferrari driver could pry P3 away, Verstappen’s hopes of a fifth consecutive title would flicker back to life. But Leclerc never mounted a meaningful attack, and with each passing lap, the title drifted further from Red Bull’s reach.

In the closing minutes, Norris’s driving took on a calmness that contrasted sharply with the early chaos. Engineers leaned over their pit wall monitors, careful not to celebrate too early, but visibly aware of the moment approaching.

A defining moment for McLaren and its new champion

Verstappen won the race, with Piastri finishing second, but the result mattered little in the broader arc of the season. As Norris crossed the line in third, McLaren erupted into cheers ending a 17-year championship drought and ushering in what the team hopes is its return to the sport’s top tier.

The triumph also marks a turning point for Formula 1. With sweeping regulation changes arriving in 2026, Norris now enters the next era as a reigning champion, a status that will reshape both his career and the competitive balance of the grid.

Sources: Sky Sports F1, FIA stewards’ post-race reports, Formula 1 broadcast coverage.