The anticipation could not have been higher ahead of the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with three drivers still in contention to clinch the World Championship at the final race for the first time in 15 years.
Max Verstappen scored an eighth victory of the campaign at the Yas Marina Circuit – but it was Lando Norris who secured his maiden Drivers’ Championship title, while McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri had to settle for third in the standings despite a memorable overtake on Norris during Lap 1.
For all that and more, here are the key moments from Abu Dhabi…
Norris crowned F1 World Champion for the first time
Despite leading the Drivers’ Championship standings since Round 20 in Mexico, Lando Norris’ journey towards a potential first title did not exactly run smoothly during the final rounds of the campaign.
While victory in Sao Paulo strengthened his hold on the crown, a double disqualification for McLaren in Las Vegas followed by a strategy misfire from the squad in Qatar – coupled with a run of wins for Max Verstappen – had seen his advantage cut down to only 12 points arriving into the finale.
Admittedly the odds remained in his favour, with a podium being enough to take the crown – but that top-three spot occasionally looked under threat during the race in Abu Dhabi, with Norris being chased by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as he ran in third following a first-lap overtake by Oscar Piastri (more on which below).
However, as that charge from Leclerc fell away in the latter stages, Norris was able to breathe a little more easily before crossing the line in third place, and the 26-year-old became emotional as the news sunk in that he had earned a maiden F1 World Championship.
After paying tribute to the support of his team and family, as well as his title rivals Verstappen and Piastri, Norris – who is now the 35th driver in F1 history to win the title – reflected: “It’s incredible. Pretty surreal.
“I’ve dreamed of this for a long time, everyone does. A lot goes into a season like this, lot of ups, lot of downs, but none of that matters as long as you try and come out on top, and that’s what we managed to do with an incredible team.”
Verstappen wins the race, but just misses out
As touched on above, Verstappen did not make things easy for Norris in a closely-fought battle for the championship that went right down to the wire.
Off the back of his triumphs in Las Vegas and Qatar, the Red Bull man knew he had to win again – and hope for some drama behind him – in order to take a fifth consecutive World Championship. As such, he put himself in the best possible position to do so by grabbing an impressive pole in Qualifying at the Yas Marina Circuit.
From there Verstappen enjoyed a dominant drive to his eighth win of the season, the 28-year-old not putting a foot wrong as he did all he could to keep his title hopes alive. But with Norris sealing that essential third place, the #1 will ultimately move over to the Briton’s car in 2026 should he wish to have it.
The final result meant that Verstappen missed out on the Drivers’ Championship by a mere two points – and despite admitting that this might look “painful”, the four-time World Champion spoke of his pride at how he and Red Bull had managed to get themselves back into the fight, having been more than 100 points behind after Round 15 at Zandvoort.
“The turnaround has been fun, and today has been fun,” Verstappen explained after the race. “We didn’t win the championship, okay, that happens, that’s life, and it’s not something that I’ll be too sad about. I mean, life goes on.
“I’m just very proud of the people I work with, they are my second family, and we will enjoy this moment. We will enjoy the second half of the season, be proud of that, and next year is going to be a big question mark for everyone anyway.”
Piastri settles for third in the standings after epic pass
With a 16-point margin to make up on team mate Norris, Piastri needed to do something special in Abu Dhabi and hope for misfortune to befall his team mate.
While the latter didn’t occur as Norris secured a maiden F1 title with P3, the Australian produced some magic and pulled off one of the overtakes of the season, going around the outside of his team mate at the banked Turn 9 on the opening lap.
Having shadowed race leader Verstappen, Piastri took the lead when the Red Bull driver pitted and held the position until the latter stages of the race after starting on the hard Pirelli rubber, in comparison to Verstappen and Norris on the medium.
Having rejoined on the medium tyre in second, Piastri was unable to close the gap to Verstappen and was left short of a maiden world title by 13 points.
“I tried my best and put myself in the best position I could to try and win the race and give myself the best opportunity, but it wasn’t to be,” the 24-year-old said.
“I think we can be very proud of the season we’ve had. On a personal level, it’s obviously not quite the ending that I wished for but I think when you look at the season as a whole, I’m very proud of the work that I’ve been able to put in.”
The Teams’ standings are finalised
Away from the Drivers’ title battle, the final placings in the Teams’ Championship were up for grabs and, with it, millions in prize money.
With George Russell P5 in the race, Mercedes claimed second in the standings by 18 points from Red Bull, with Ferrari a further 53 points back in fourth.
Neither Carlos Sainz or Alex Albon finished in the points, though Williams had already secured P5 in Qatar, as Racing Bulls took sixth with Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson also not finishing inside the top-10 in Abu Dhabi.
A P6 and P10 finish for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ensured Aston Martin finished P7, just three points behind Racing Bulls, while they were 10 points clear of Haas, the American outfit taking seventh in the race at the Yas Marina Circuit with Esteban Ocon.
In Kick Sauber’s final race before becoming Audi, the Swiss-based team finished ninth in the Teams’ Championship as Nico Hulkenberg reached the points in P9, with Alpine failing to score and 48 points adrift in last.
A star-studded attendance for the title-deciding finale
The great and the good from the world of showbusiness and sport attended the final race of the season to see who would claim this year’s Drivers’ Championship.
Actress Ana de Armas was on hand to wave the chequered flag for race winner Verstappen on Sunday, having been shown around the Ferrari garage by seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
Ahead of Norris’ first Drivers’ title, the McLaren garage was also graced by the presence of singer/songwriter Katy Perry, with fellow American musician Benson Boone also making an appearance.
From the sporting world, tennis star Jannik Sinner made the trip, as did footballing legends Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho.
