Lando Norris wins the World Title for the first time: 2025 Abu Dhabi GP Review.

Lando Norris secured his first-ever World Drivers Championship by finishing on the podium at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver came into the “decider in the desert” knowing that all he needed to do was finish 3rd or better to claim that maiden crown.

How the race unfolded

Compared to the tension built up by this decisive final showing, the Abu Dhabi GP was fairly uneventful.

Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole, as he looked to complete the biggest deficit overturn in F1 history to win his fifth championship on the spin. Norris would’ve needed to finish fourth or lower for that to happen, with Verstappen winning. Lando started alongside Max, with McLaren teammate, and outside title rival Oscar Piastri in P3. Piastri had to win the Grand Prix, and his teammate had to finish down in P6 or lower.

There were split strategies between the top three with Verstappen and Norris started on the Mediums, while Piastri opted to go long on the Hards.

It was a good start off the line for the majority of drivers, though George Russell suffered a lot of wheelspin in his Mercedes off the start line and fell from P4, behind Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso into P6.

The big moment of the opening exchanges came when Piastri drove around the outside of his teammate, and into P2 while on a much slower tyre.

Norris was still in a championship position, but Leclerc was not giving him an easy time, sticking within the DRS of the McLaren for a good while.

Eventually, the pit stops came around, and Russell was the first to blink on lap 14, changing onto the hard. Both Leclerc and Norris were forced to respond on lap 16 in order to try and avoid an undercut from the Mercedes.

Norris came out into a lot of traffic, but quickly picked off the likes of Stroll, Antonelli, Sainz, and Lawson in the space of a couple of laps.

His biggest test came in the form of the second Red Bull car of Yuki Tsunoda, who had purposely been put on the hard to start with so he could go long and disrupt the McLarens.

When they eventually met down the long back straight, Tsunoda aggressively weaved, which forced Norris to go off the track to get past. The departing Red Bull driver was investigated and subsequently awarded a time penalty for his defending.

With Leclerc’s pace dropping off and Russell being nowhere, all Norris needed to do was keep ticking the laps off.

Verstappen actually caught Piastri who’s pitstop was delayed after his team-mate had to come in to cover a second pitstop from Leclerc.

The Aussie was given a task of closing a 24 second gap to the four time world champion with a fresh set of mediums, one that he was unable to

make any ground on.

Verstappen crossed the line to win his eighth grand prix of the 2025 season and his sixth in the last nine races, but the fifth world title fell short by two points.

Piastri finished in second, having led the championship for so long, but a poor few races towards the back end of the season cost him his first title.

Norris got the podium he needed and the championship that he deserved. A season of emotional ups and downs on track for the Brit, but some brilliant performances in the final quarter of the season won him the world title.

Stats behind Lando’s maiden crown

Lando Norris won the first McLaren Drivers Championship since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

He becomes one of four drivers to win their maiden title in Abu Dhabi (Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and Max Verstappen)

His maiden title ended the monopoly of Mercedes and Red Bull in the drivers championship, the first time someone not from those two teams has won the trophy since Jenson Button and Brawn GP in 2009.

Norris is the 35th Formula One World Champion.

He is the 11th different British driver to be a World Champion.

Norris is also McLaren’s eighth driver to win the title,

He became the seventh youngest driver to be World Champion (26 years 25 days).

Round-up

Mercedes secured P2 in the constructors ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari. The Scuderia finished P4, suffering their worst finish in the constructors since 2020 (P6)

Racing Bulls secured a P6 finish in the constructors, three points ahead of Aston Martin.

Williams had their best finish in the constructors championship for eight years, sealing a fifth place as best of the rest.

Everyone managed to score points in the 2025 season, apart from Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.

91 days till a new beginning

There are only 91 days to go until the biggest regulation change in over a decade begins.

There are still many unknown questions about what the cars will be like in terms of racing and durability next year.

Lando Norris will be looking to be the first driver to win consecutive championships for McLaren since Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999. Whatever happens, though, he will forever be immortalised in F1 history as a Champion of the World.