Abu Dhabi GP: Debriefing the 2025 F1 season - Lando Norris a worthy champion, Max Verstappen’s statement victory, a look towards 2026, and more

On Sunday, December 7, the 2025 F1 season came to an end with McLaren’s Lando Norris delivering a professional P3 finish to secure his first-ever World Drivers’ Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

Beating Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to the title, the Brit brought the curtain down on what has been another thrilling year of action. And with just under 90 days until the circus gets going again in Melbourne, there is a lot to unpack in the build-up to a new era of F1.

Sports News Blitz’s F1 writer, Henry Eccles, analyses the major talking points to come out of the season finale at Abu Dhabi.

Lando Norris proves himself wrong with emotional first Drivers’ title win

Starting the Abu Dhabi GP in P2, Lando Norris had one simple objective - finish on the podium to become world champion. 

And while Oscar Piastri’s incredible first-lap overtake, as well as Charles Leclerc’s strong pace in P4, could have derailed Norris’ confidence, the Briton carried out a no-nonsense drive to finish P3. 

His nerviest moment came when trying to regain third from Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda after his first pit stop - the Japanese driver was told to make life difficult for Norris and nearly took him out on the main straight, but the McLaren driver got the move done.

It was a move he had to make, and with high-pressure situations being a historic weakness, a move that encapsulates Norris’ remarkable turnaround in the second part of the season. 

Suffering a qualifying crash in Saudi Arabia, hitting Piastri and retiring in Canada, and 34 points down to the championship leader after the Dutch GP, Norris had nine rounds to prove not only to F1 fans, but to himself, that he had what it takes to be world champion. 

As Max Verstappen mounted his epic comeback charge, Piastri’s form dipped, but Norris still racked up big points, and at Round 20, he took the lead of the championship with a dominant victory in Mexico City. 

But after a perfect 33-point sprint weekend for Norris in São Paulo, a double McLaren DSQ in Las Vegas, and a catastrophic strategy blunder in Qatar took the title fight all the way to Abu Dhabi.

And while many still expected him to buckle under pressure at the season finale, a professional drive from the reborn Norris removed any doubt that he is worthy of being F1’s 35th world champion. 

Norris reflected on his year post-race: “If I look back on it, my first half of the season, not the most impressive, certainly times I made some mistakes, I made some bad judgments, I made my errors, as I'm sure every driver would admit to. 

“But how I managed to turn all of that [around] and have the second half of the season that I had is what makes me very proud that I've been able to prove myself wrong.

“There were those doubts that I had in the beginning of the year, and I proved myself wrong, and that's something that makes me very happy.”

READ MORE: Lando Norris crowned F1 world champion at Abu Dhabi finale despite Max Verstappen win

Max Verstappen shows everyone ‘who’s boss’ 

Despite missing out on the title by just two points, Verstappen took the race win in Abu Dhabi to achieve the most victories out of anyone this season (eight). 

Crossing the line comfortably in P1, Verstappen told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “We showed them one final time who’s boss!” 

And who can argue with that? The four-time world champion had just reduced the 104-point gap to the lead he had at the Dutch GP to just two by taking six wins in the last nine rounds of the season. 

Much like Fernando Alonso for Ferrari in 2012, Verstappen dragged an inferior car all the way to a title-deciding season finale. And while his fifth world title will ultimately have to wait, 2025 has arguably been the Dutchman’s most impressive season yet. 

Speaking to the media post-race, the 28-year-old said: “I've hated this car at times, but I've also loved it at times. And I always tried to extract the most from it, even in the difficult weekends that we've had. 

“But, yeah, it's been, like I said before, a proper rollercoaster with the car. Luckily, the last, I would say, eight, nine rounds in general have been a lot more enjoyable.

“And also, in the team, we have a great atmosphere at the moment. We're really on a roll,  positive energy, belief, confidence, and that's exactly what you want heading into next year.

“At the end of the day, of course, it's always nicer to win it. But, honestly, I'm sitting here now with probably a better feeling than what I had last year at this time because the second half of last year was pretty tricky at times as well.”

Despite Verstappen’s comments on an improved atmosphere, the shock announcement that Helmut Marko is set to leave his motorsport advisor role at Red Bull will reignite some speculation surrounding his long-term future. 

Marko, to whom the Dutchman is fiercely loyal, promoted a 17-year-old Verstappen to F1 in 2015, and was at one point directly tied to his Red Bull future earlier this season, although things stabilised following Christian Horner’s dismissal as Team Principal in July. 

While it has long been confirmed Verstappen will race for Red Bull next year, 2027 is a lot more uncertain, as he will take into consideration both on-track performance and his own enjoyment under new regulations, with the likes of Mercedes and Aston Martin linked.

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Will Ferrari listen to Lewis Hamilton? 

In many ways, Abu Dhabi perfectly summarised Ferrari’s 2025 season. 

While Leclerc struggled to fight at the front, finishing in a rather lonely P4, team-mate Lewis Hamilton had to perform yet another recovery drive to score P8 after a disastrous P16 qualifying result - the fourth time in a row he has failed to make it out of either Q1 or SQ1.

At the start of the year, things were seemingly on the up for Ferrari.

The Scuderia had narrowly missed out on the Constructors’ title to McLaren in 2024 and just signed a seven-time world champion.

For Hamilton, however, 2025 has been a “nightmare” and “the worst season ever,” having finished without scoring a podium for the first time in his career and 86 points behind his team-mate in P6. 

After the race, a downbeat Hamilton said: “At the moment I'm only looking forward to the break. Just to disconnecting, not speaking to anyone. No one will be able to get in touch with me this winter. I won't have my phone with me and I'm looking forward to that. Completely unplug from the matrix."

While disconnecting from such a poor season ought to do Hamilton good, he has also routinely made clear throughout this year that Ferrari have a lot of work to do to catch up with their rivals for 2026.

Earlier in the season at the Belgian GP, he revealed he had shared two documents detailing areas for improvement with key players at Ferrari, including Team Principal Fred Vasseur, Chairman John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna. 

The worry for Hamilton, however, is that he is simply not being listened to - especially after Elkann’s post-Brazil GP outburst saying he wanted his drivers to “talk less.”

But at the penultimate round in Qatar, arguably both Ferrari and Hamilton’s worst weekend in years, the Brit again called on his team to make crucial improvements, while also explaining he has been keeping notes for a potential action plan.

“Time will tell whether or not we act on those things and we keep hold of the things that are good and change the things that are not - and there's plenty of those. There's literally no reason why we couldn't fix those if we just put those into action,” Hamilton said. 

And just prior to the season finale on Sunday, the former Mercedes driver again hinted at big changes needed over the break. 

“We are obviously testing next week and then we go back to the factory and I’ve got to decide what my approach is when it comes to sitting down with key stakeholders to make the decisions, and how that approach is to create the change that’s needed.

“Through my break I will analyse those decisions and make markers on how I can make better decisions in the future.

“My surroundings in terms of my personal personnel, team personnel, how do you utilise people, whether people need to move into different positions to work better. All these different things need to be looked upon in my personal space so that we can optimise our teamwork.”

At various points of the season, both the Italian media and F1 legends such as Nico Rosberg and Juan Pablo Montoya have pleaded with Ferrari to listen to their vastly experienced driver, with the former saying the Scuderia could be “unstoppable” with Hamilton’s guidance.

Especially given the 2026 regulations will bring back an aero package more suited to his driving style, whether or not Ferrari decide to take on board what the seven-time world champion has to say could be crucial for the next few seasons. 

But as Hamilton says, only time will tell.

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The rise of the rookies

While none of the 2025 rookies actually scored any points at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, it has nonetheless been an exceptional year for young talent in F1. 

If you include Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto, a total of seven rookies have taken to the track this season, and the majority of them have at one point or another been a strong contender for rookie of the year. 

The most high-profile is undoubtedly Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. As the third youngest driver in F1 history, the 18-year-old battled through a tough middle part of the season to secure three podiums, and a P7 finish just six points off Hamilton. 

After a heartbreaking DNS debut in Melbourne, Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar has most certainly been the most consistent youngster in P12, securing not only his maiden F1 podium at Zandvoort but also the Red Bull seat next to Verstappen for 2026.

In P13 and P14, respectively, Ollie Bearman and Liam Lawson have also had strong ends to the season. 

Bearman has been lightning quick in qualifying and equalled Haas’ best-ever finish with P4 in Mexico, while Racing Bulls’ Lawson has retained his seat and rebuilt his reputation after a torrid two-race stint at Red Bull at the start of the year.

Next up, in P19 comes former F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, whose crash-happy end to the season has distracted from the fact that he has actually performed admirably overall against experienced Sauber team-mate Nico Hülkenberg. 

Things have been tough over at Alpine, however, as neither Colapinto nor Jack Doohan scored points in 2025.

But it was the Argentine that managed to keep his seat as the team swap Renault for Mercedes as their engine supplier next year.

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A look ahead to 2026

With just 87 days to go until a new era of F1 gets underway in Melbourne, there is so much to look forward to, as revolutionary rules and new teams look set to shake up the grid in 2026. 

With the introduction of smaller, nimbler cars, movable front and rear wings, and a power unit split 50/50 between internal combustion and electric power, Mercedes have been tipped as early favourites for next year.

The Silver Arrows aced the last major engine overhaul when the current 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid engines were introduced in 2014.

And with a strong, hungry driver lineup of Antonelli and George Russell, they could very well be the team to beat. 

But 2025’s runners-up will also supply four teams with engines next year, including Alpine, Williams and Constructors’ champions McLaren. 

With Piastri hoping to get back at Norris, you would expect McLaren to be strong again. But the Woking team have historically struggled to transition between regulation cycles.

Perhaps Williams could surprise everyone yet again. 

Led by former Mercedes Chief Strategist James Vowles, and dynamic drivers Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon, the Grove team secured a remarkable P5 finish in the Constructors’, and have prioritised 2026 since Vowles’ arrival as Team Principal in February 2023. 

Another midfield team to watch will be Aston Martin, with the arrival of Honda engines and legendary aerodynamicist Adrian Newey, who began work at the team’s state-of-the-art Silverstone facility in March before being promoted to 2026 Team Principal last month. 

Replacing Honda as Red Bull’s supplier, Ford return to F1 for the first time since 2004 as a technical partner for Red Bull Powertrains.

How well the Milton Keynes team perform after the departures of Newey, Horner, and now Marko will be fascinating to follow. 

And then we have the new teams. 

Having won almost everything there is in motorsport, Audi finally enter F1 in 2026, replacing ninth-placed Sauber as a full works team with ambitions to fight for world titles by 2030. 

Starting from scratch, Cadillac, backed by giant American manufacturer General Motors, will be F1’s eleventh team next year, led by Team Principal Graeme Lowdon and F1 veterans Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. 

Last month at Imola, Cadillac borrowed an all-black 2023 car from engine suppliers Ferrari to practice their trackside operations and give Perez a refresher of F1 machinery, while Bottas had his seat fitted on Tuesday. 

The new team plan to fire up its 2026 challenger for the first time before Christmas, and have a shakedown in early January prior to official pre-season testing in Barcelona on January 26-30. 

During pre-season, we will get a taste of where Cadillac and their rivals are, but given the usual smoke and mirrors in F1 testing, no one will really know until the first Grand Prix of the 2026 season on March 8 in Melbourne.

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