Norris seals 2025 F1 title after finishing third in Abu Dhabi GP

BEIJING -- McLaren's Lando Norris sealed the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship with a third-place finish at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the race from pole position.

Heading into the final round of an enthralling 2025 season, Norris held a 12-point lead over Verstappen, with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri four points further adrift.

In F1's first three-way title finale since 2010, Norris knew that third place would be enough to seal the title regardless of where Verstappen and Piastri finished.

Lining up second on the grid behind Verstappen, Norris drove cautiously at the start, not engaging with Verstappen before ceding a place to Piastri and settling into the third place he needed, shrugging off an early threat from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

A potential banana skin came when Norris pitted on lap 17 to cover off an undercut by Mercedes' George Russell, and the Briton emerged ninth, behind a train of cars which were yet to pit.

However, Norris sliced through the pack and was up to fifth two laps later, which became fourth after Haas' Esteban Ocon made his first stop.

Norris then came across Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda in third, who had yet to pit and had clearly been instructed by his team to hold Norris up as best he could.

Despite some weaving on the back straight from the Japanese, which resulted in a five-second time penalty, Norris made his way past on lap 23.

The Briton then made a second stop on lap 43, and though Leclerc started to close, his challenge soon faded as his tyres started to grain, and Norris duly eased to third place and his first world title.

"I've not cried in a while! I didn't think I would cry but I did!" said an emotional Norris afterwards.

"It's a long journey. First of all, I want to say a big thanks to my guys, everyone at McLaren, my parents - my mum, my dad - they are the ones who have supported me since the beginning.

"It feels amazing. I now know what Max feels like a little bit! I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors the whole season. It's been a pleasure to race against both of them. It's been an honor, I've learned a lot from both.

"I've enjoyed it. It's been a long year. We did it and I'm so proud for everyone."

Out front, Verstappen cruised to his third win in a row and his eighth of the season - one more than both Norris and Piastri - but the Dutchman ultimately fell just two points shy of Norris after a stirring second half of 2025.

The four-time world champion had been more than 100 points adrift at one stage, before mounting a late surge up the standings in what has been arguably been his most impressive season.

Behind Verstappen, Piastri took second place, having started on the hard compound tyres and committing to a long opening stint, but the Australian lacked the pace to reel in Verstappen and mount a late challenge for victory.

Piastri had led the championship for longer than any other driver in 2025 and for a time looked a strong favorite to claim the title, but a difficult run at the end of the season has left him on a nine-race winless streak.

Norris is Formula 1's 35th different world champion, and the 11th from Britain. With McLaren long having wrapped up the constructors' championship, the Woking squad takes its first title double since 1998.