Winners and losers from a title-deciding F1 Abu Dhabi GP

For the primary time since 2021, Abu Dhabi performed host to an F1 title decider, and identical to final time a brand new identify is written into the historical past books. This is who joins F1’s thirty fifth world champion Lando Norris within the winners’ class and who ends 2025 on a bitter word.

Winner: Lando Norris

To the winner, the spoils. With two anticlimactic weekends in Las Vegas and Qatar, McLaren positioned an enormous quantity of pointless stress on the Abu Dhabi weekend. It made the Yas Marina occasion a nervy affair, however Norris responded with a fairly flawless closing spherical.

Groups, media and followers rifled via dozens of various situations, however ultimately Norris wanted third and he ensured he bought third. Following a clear getaway, Norris did not make life too tough for team-mate Oscar Piastri in Flip 9, a state of affairs that was mentioned at McLaren because it gave the Australian an opportunity to go after chief Max Verstappen on the extra graining-resistant laborious tyres.

Norris got here underneath some stress for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as he fastidiously introduced his medium tyres in, however by no means actually regarded like dropping third and made decisive overtakes after his pitstop, together with a hair-raising one in opposition to Yuki Tsunoda, who was penalised for weaving.

Verstappen would be the driver of the 12 months with what he did within the Purple Bull, however that does not make Norris’ maiden title any much less deserved. For somebody who was as soon as accused of bottling underneath stress and being too open about his failings, Norris has proven he has come a great distance. Good guys can end first.

Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Photos by way of Getty Photos

Loser: Max Verstappen (however probably not)

Verstappen is the loser on the day as a result of he comes two factors brief to take an astonishing fifth world title. However what he has finished in 2025 is sort of outstanding, taking eight wins within the Purple Bull RB21 in comparison with seven apiece for Norris and Piastri whereas the Dutch driver additionally lead the pole charts.

A very good chunk of Verstappen’s restoration from 104 factors down on Piastri may be ascribed to McLaren opening the door as a collective, however the four-time world champion additionally performed an instrumental position in turning the group’s automotive set-ups – and subsequently season – round. He did so with the identical metronomic consistency and uncompromising perspective we have grown accustomed to, and closes out the 2025 season with one other storming win in Abu Dhabi.

Winner: McLaren

Because it goes with these on the very high, McLaren acquired an enormous quantity of criticism in 2025. The larger they’re, the more durable they fall. It definitely did not take the straightforward highway by preserving each Norris and Piastri and labelling each as potential future world champions, swearing to provide each equal probabilities. That it has been ready to take action till the very finish with out the pair falling out with one another or with the group is sort of outstanding, if not unprecedented.

The final group to strive that, Mercedes, noticed Nico Rosberg retire on the spot after an acrimonious intra-team battle and wanted an extended heart-to-heart between Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton to restore the injury. Was it excellent? No, it wasn’t. Its Monza place swap nonetheless was heavy-handed to this present day, and the Piastri camp in all probability nonetheless feels the identical manner. However McLaren will have the ability to rely on what might be the strongest driver pairing on the grid to start out from a clear slate and do it yet again.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photograph by: Mark Thompson / Getty Photos

What a whimper to exit on for Alpine in its final grand prix as a manufacturing unit group, as Viry shutters its in-house F1 energy unit manufacturing. Pierre Gasly has been a star in qualifying this 12 months with 10 Q3 appearances in 2025, however the spirited Frenchman could not keep away from sharing the final row of the grid with team-mate Franco Colapinto in Abu Dhabi. It grew to become a race to nowhere, except you name “being lapped” a legitimate vacation spot.

Alpine is hoping its determination to shift all deal with 2026 will repay subsequent 12 months, when it should profit from Mercedes energy items – if rumours of the constructors’ head begin are to be believed. However 2025? A personality-building train, and that is placing it kindly, even when the tightest-ever F1 grid has proven there are not any genuinely dangerous groups any longer. When requested about how he’ll keep in mind the recalcitrant Alpine A525, Gasly replied: “I advised them to maintain it out of my sight subsequent 12 months.”

Winner: Charles Leclerc

Alongside George Russell, Leclerc has been one of many standout drivers of the season with out the tools to reward it. The SF-25 has been notably tough to drive, which in a good discipline has seen a spiralling Hamilton dumped out in Q1 on three consecutive events – 4 together with dash qualifying.

Leclerc was additionally manhandling the automotive on Saturday with an experimental set-up, which left him nervous concerning the race. However he can have been pleasantly shocked to be placing early stress on the McLaren of Norris, and whereas he was by no means going to have the ability to maintain that, he was a cushty better of the remaining in fourth.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photograph by: Clive Mason / Getty Photos

Loser: Mercedes

And that is as a result of the person who certified there, Russell, suffered a foul begin after which by no means discovered both the clear air or the tempo to do a lot about it. Russell completed a lone fifth, 46 seconds behind Verstappen with what he referred to as “dreadful” tempo from them W16, which is the newest from a lineage of Mercedes ground-effect vehicles that will not advantage essentially the most outstanding place within the Mercedes museum.

Likewise, team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli was nowhere in fifteenth and wasn’t all that distant from being lapped. If Mercedes is happy about subsequent, then it isn’t nearly how properly superior its 2026 energy unit might or will not be, but in addition as a result of the final 4 seasons have not been notably gratifying.

A honourable point out goes to evergreen Fernando Alonso, who was immense once more along with his sixth place on the end. However after a tough and complicated interval, through which all of the plaudits rightfully went to rookie team-mate Oliver Bearman, it was good to see Haas’ Ocon bounce again and log out on a excessive.

After a dreadful Friday with extra mystifying dealing with points, which led to Ocon declaring “I aren’t understanding the right way to drive in any respect”, the Frenchman certified eighth and completed seventh, which proved sufficient for Haas to safe eighth. There may be some frustration that this breakthrough did not occur earlier, as Aston Martin’s seventh place was there for the taking.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing Team

Photograph by: Andy Hone/ LAT Photos by way of Getty Photos

Loser: Yuki Tsunoda

Thus ends Tsunoda’s five-season stint in F1, the marge majority with Racing Bulls adopted by a 22-race run with Purple Bull. Whether or not or not the 25-year-old Japanese driver might be again is unknown – he has time and Honda on his aspect – however sadly he has been the newest casualty of Purple Bull’s second seat syndrome.

Tsunoda did what he may to play the group recreation in Abu Dhabi, handing Verstappen a tow on his first Q3 run and making an attempt to carry up Norris within the race, however in the end did not make a distinction with both. His vital weaving on the straight in opposition to Norris was undoubtedly a bit of bit an excessive amount of and it was good to see the stewards truly pull somebody up on it for as soon as. Ultimately Tsunoda completed a distant 14th whereas his team-mate received the race and nearly the championship. Tsunoda definitely wasn’t miles off Verstappen always, however the momentum and consistency was by no means there.

Images from Abu Dhabi GP – Race

Lando Norris, McLaren