Win or Lose in Abu Dhabi: Only one could reign supreme; Norris becomes World Champion and the loss of MV1.

It was a weekend in Abu Dhabi that became our big decider for the 2025 World Championship. Would it be Piastri, Norris or Verstappen for the big title. With each driver having their wins and losses over the season, it was a difficult task for them to maintain their capabilities.

2025 Abu Dhabi Race Start.

The race itself proved very little dramas, with Oscar Piastri completing a quick overtake on his teammate on lap 1, later forced to try and chase Max Verstappen down, who proved he was still full of speed and ability.

The overall weekend had to crown someone as the new champion, and that result would ultimately go to McLaren driver Lando Norris. He becomes the 35^th Driver Champion and the 11^th British Champion. He managed to finish in P3, which was all he needed to ensure the title was won against the other two competitors.

Lando Norris officially becomes your 35th World Champion.

Max Verstappen had a brilliant season and a great way to end with another win in Abu Dhabi and missing out on the continuation of his championship by only 2 points, whilst Oscar Piastri finished in P2 and only missed out by 13 points. These two drivers had performed at some of the highest levels all their season and fought right to the end. It was a well fought championship between the three drivers.

Finishing their season off well was Ferrari and Mercedes. These two teams had a mixture of strong and weak race results but still managed to end the season on a high. Charles Leclerc only just missed out on a podium opportunity, finishing in P4 and Mercedes driver George Russell finishing in P5. A Ferrari driver we did not expect to see in the top 10 was Lewis Hamilton, but after the drive of his life, he went from P16 all the way to P8. A brilliant end to a mixed result season for Hamilton, who ultimately finished P6 in the championship as well.

Charles Leclerc with a good start at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Whilst Russell had a strong weekend for Mercedes, The rookie driver, Kimi Antonelli found it difficult to make his way to that top 10 spot for the final race of the year. Having started P14, it was not an easy task but given the difficulty he had it was not going to be a race to remember. In the end, he finished well outside the top 10 in P15.

Aston Martin were able to end their season on a high as well with both drivers making it into the top 10. Fernando Alonso managed to finish in P6, whilst his teammate Lance Stroll was able to round out the top 10, in P10. Between these two were individual drivers, Haas driver Esteban Ocon finished in P7, whilst Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg was able to finish in P9. Both drivers had a quiet race, but given their capabilities were able to add final points to their teams for the constructors.

Finishing just outside the top 10, was both young rookies from Sauber and Haas. Gabriel Bortoleto was extremely close to making the top 10 being only 2 seconds behind Stroll, ultimately finishing in P11.

Gabriel Bortoleto VS Fernando Alonso

Ollie Bearman was the other driver missing out on a top 10 finish also finishing around 2 seconds behind. These two young drivers had impressed both their teams and their fans this season. Given it was their first year, there were highs and lows, but they have the ability and should be some future drivers to look out for.

Given it was his final race in Formula One (for now), Yuki Tsunoda could not prove his capability to those watching in the final race weekend. Having started from P10 and looking hopeful to remain in that top 10 somewhere, we didn’t expect his result. A penalty for multiple change in direction in a fight against Norris would seal his result, ultimately finishing P14. Tsunoda has been a very strong competitor having been at Racing Bulls and Red bull over the past few seasons, he is proving to look more competitive and hopefully we see him back in the sport soon.

Yuki Tsunoda puts up a good fight against Lando Norris.

Williams had an unfortunately quiet weekend in Abu Dhabi. Both drivers being unable to make a dent in the top 10 and with Alex Albon receiving a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Carlos Sainz would go on to finish P13, whilst Alex Albon was down in P16. Williams had a very strong season, finishing in 5^th in the constructor’s title fight and multiple podium finishes with Sainz. This proves hopeful for the team going into the new regulations in 2026.

Our final 2 teams: Racing Bulls and Alpine had a rough end to the year. For Racing Bulls, having started P9 with Isack Hadjar and P13 with Liam Lawson, we would not have expected a P17 and P18 finish result. This young pairing had a difficult season, but with some exciting results as well, they have been an impressive young duo, but after this season we will not see it anymore with Hadjar being promoted to the Red Bull seat and young F2 driver Arvid Lindblad taking the 2^nd spot at Racing Bulls.

Racing Bulls 2026 rookie, Arvid Lindblad.

For Alpine, tough is possibly the best way to describe the season overall. With Pierre Gasly again carrying the team to potential point scoring opportunities, there wasn’t much else going on. Gasly ultimately finishing in P19 ahead of his teammate Franco Colapinto in P20. There is hope for this team, with the retirement of the Renault engine and welcoming the new partner of Mercedes who will be providing power units to the team, could this be the saving grace?

But that is it, your 2025 season is officially complete. We say goodbye to the current regulations and welcome in new ones, with DRS being retired and replaced by ‘Overtake Mode’ and many other changes. This also includes the 11^th team making an exciting debut with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez returning to the scene and saying goodbye to Sauber and hello to Audi. It will be a year of exciting events, and we all cannot wait.

The official car regulations for 2026.