Max Verstappen could have played games at Abu Dhabi here’s why he didn’t

December 8, 2025 Oliver Obel

Verstappen’s pace advantage was evident early, allowing him to stretch clear while the title-deciding tension simmered behind him. Autosport reported his margin over Oscar Piastri at just over 12 seconds, but the real calculation concerned Norris, whose third-place finish secured the championship by only two points. Yuki Tsunoda fought determinedly to delay the inevitable but couldn’t keep the McLaren out of the danger zone for long.

The contrast to past finales was hard to miss. The 2016 showdown, when Lewis Hamilton slowed the field in a last attempt to unsettle Nico Rosberg, remains a reference point for tactical desperation. In Abu Dhabi this time, there was no equivalent twist no engineered bottleneck, no strategic gamble designed to place Norris under direct threat.

Drivers expected more. Oscar Piastri admitted in comments to Sky Sports that he thought Verstappen might “mix things up” at some point. Charles Leclerc echoed that sentiment, saying he assumed the Dutchman would “play some games” given the championship stakes.

Verstappen explains his thinking

Speaking afterward, Verstappen told reporters that he mapped out several approaches before the race but quickly abandoned any idea of orchestrating the pack. “I had a lot of scenarios in my head,” he said, noting that Piastri’s long stint on hard tyres made controlling the pace “quite difficult.”

He also pointed to Red Bull’s underlying speed, which risked making any intentional slowdown obvious and counterproductive. According to BBC Sport, Verstappen acknowledged Leclerc’s strong pace and added that McLaren’s two-stop strategy reduced opportunities to dictate the race flow from the front.

Track design played an even subtler role. The 2021 Yas Marina modifications removed the old chicane-and-hairpin sequence, replacing it with a faster, more flowing layout. While that change contributed to Verstappen’s dramatic 2021 title moment, it now worked against any attempt to back up the field; higher corner speeds and longer acceleration zones leave a leading driver far more exposed to attacks.

Tactical limits in a wwo-on-one fight

With both McLarens in close company and no teammate inside strategic range, Verstappen’s influence on the championship was always limited. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the team evaluated a late second stop a move that might have created the possibility of reshaping the race late on but decided the downside was too great.

“We chose to stay out to maximise the advantage we had and to concentrate on winning the race,” Mekies said. He credited McLaren’s split-tyre approach with tightening Red Bull’s tactical window, making any effort to bunch the pack “more difficult than it looked from the outside.”

What the finale tells us

For all the uncertainty heading into the evening, the championship was ultimately decided by consistency rather than chaos. Norris became the 17th British driver to win an F1 title, an achievement built more on season-long precision than on late-season theatrics.

Verstappen, meanwhile, ends the year with a reminder that not every finale requires brinkmanship. His restraint in Abu Dhabi may signal a champion increasingly confident in execution over disruption a trait that could shape Red Bull’s approach as the 2025 season looms.

Sources: BBC Sport, Sky Sports, Autosport.