Lando Norris played it safe and won the 2025 Formula One World title as he finished third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The dethroned champion Max Verstappen was able to get the win at Yas Marina on Sunday, December 7, but it wasn't enough at the end of the day as Norris edged past him by two points to claim the title.
The British driver becomes the first world champion for McLaren since Lewis Hamilton achieved it in 2008. Oscar Piastri, who was third in the standings and had an outside chance to winning the title, finished second. Norris became the 35th different World Champion in F1's 75-year history and 11th British driver to win the title. Norris needed to finish third in the race to claim the title even if Verstappen scored the win, and he decided to just be calm and not chase the race victory to claim the title.
It was Verstappen who got off to the best possible start, fending off Norris and Piastri into the first curve and taking the lead. For Norris, it was a horrible start as he lost a spot to Piastri and then was chased down by Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari.
Norris was able to hold off the pressure and decided to play it safe, something he alluded to after the qualifying session. Verstappen was slowly building an early lead to Piastri, who was on the hard compound tyres to start the race.
It was Norris who played the bluff upfront and went into the pits in the 16th lap to get hard tyres on his car. Despite being stuck behind traffic, the pace of the McLaren helped him to quickly move up the ranks.
Leclerc seemed to be on the tail of Norris throughout the race, the McLaren seemed to have the pace.
Zak Brown's team have come under criticism for their pit stop strategy for most of the season, with Qatar being a prime example. However, at the Yas Marina, they played it perfectly. Piastri was made to stay out up until lap 42 to give him some mediums. They were made to panic a little when Leclerc performed an undercut and went on to mediums in the 44th lap. But Norris came in calmly and kept his lead enough to keep the distance from Leclerc.
During this time, Piastri was asked to ensure that Verstappen's window for a second pit stop was cut down, meaning that the Dutchman needed a miracle and help from Leclerc to win the championship.
Towards the end, he was able to maintain the distance to Piastri and secured another win, his sixth in the last 10 races to cap off an amazing second half of the season. But in the end, the winning moment belonged to Norris, who was emotional in the car as celebrations erupted in the paddock.
Source: India Today