Lando Norris did what he had to do to win the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship.
Norris, 26, used a two-stop strategy for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to finish third behind race winner Max Verstappen and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. No matter what Verstappen and Piastri do, Norris is capable of finishing third and sealing the title.
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McLaren does just that. With Piastri leading the race and requiring a mandatory pit stop on lap 40 of the 58-lap Grand Prix, the team pitted Norris for a second time, leaving Piastri on the track. Norris needed to cover Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc’s two-stop strategy and couldn’t afford to waste time on old tires for Leclerc by running one more lap.
Had Norris dropped to fourth, behind Leclerc, Verstappen could have clinched the title with a win.
Instead, Piastri pitted a lap later and found himself well behind Verstappen, who had passed Piastri on the track before the Australian pitted. When Piastri returned to the track more than 24 seconds behind Verstappen, he did not have enough time to use the medium tires to make up the huge gap.
It was Norris’ first title in his seventh full season in Formula One. He went winless in the first five years of his career but finished second behind Verstappen in the championship a season ago before winning four races. This year, McLaren returned with a car that was faster than the rest and won its second consecutive constructors’ title, with Norris and Piastri both winning seven races.
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Verstappen, meanwhile, had won eight races and almost completed an incredible comeback to win his fifth consecutive title.
This comeback might have been a reality had it not been for Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli’s mistake a week ago. The rookie slid off the outside in the final laps of the Qatar Grand Prix while trying to prevent Norris from finishing fourth. This allowed Norris – who was at a huge disadvantage due to McLaren’s incredible strategy error – to quietly finish fourth and ensure he would finish on the podium and win the championship.
If Norris falls behind Antonelli, he will need to finish second behind Verstappen in Abu Dhabi to win the title.
