Lando Norris will battle his own nerves as much as his rivals’ speed as he bids to end Max Verstappen’s four-year reign as F1 world champion in Sunday’s (December 7, 2025) season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After two weekends of self-inflicted setbacks, championship leader Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri need an error-free event to ensure Red Bull’s number one cannot complete a spectacular end-of-season recovery in glorious style.

For the first time since a four-way scrap at the final race in Abu Dhabi in 2010, the title will be decided by a contest involving more than two drivers with McLaren, in particular, nervously glancing in their mirrors for Verstappen.

Norris has a 12-point lead on Verstappen ahead of the finale and a 16-point advantage on team-mate Piastri, and needs to finish on the podium to prevail.

But it is the Dutchman who has the momentum with five wins in his last eight outings – and no distraction from a team-mate rival or blurred team orders.

Last weekend, in Qatar, two weeks after both Norris and Piastri were disqualified in Las Vegas for an illegal level of wear on their under-car planks, McLaren contrived to bungle a key pit-stop decision and gifted victory to Verstappen.

Piastri was the fastest driver in every session, but he finished second and Norris third – a result that set up this Sunday’s showdown in the desert, the most hotly-anticipated since Verstappen ended Lewis Hamilton’s run as champion in controversial circumstances in 2021.

On paper, it is Norris’s title to lose, but history — recent and past — shows anything can happen when the stakes are at their highest.

In 2010, for example, Ferrari’s two-time champion Fernando Alonso arrived with an eight-point lead on Red Bull’s Mark Webber with his team-mate Sebastian Vettel 15 adrift in third ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel took pole position and won, Hamilton was second and Alonso and Webber seventh and eighth.

Piastri, therefore, remains justified in believing he still has a chance, particularly after showing outstanding form and pace in Qatar.

The 24-year-old Australian, bidding to be his country’s first champion since Alan Jones in 1980, is managed by Webber now and will not lack in mental focus at the Yas Marina Circuit where Norris won last year and Verstappen the previous four.

Verstappen, however, has seen it all before and after goading McLaren about their mistakes in recent weeks, and producing fast and near-flawless drives himself, will feel he can equal Michael Schumacher’s record of winning five consecutive titles.

‘Best shot’

He has overturned a 104-point deficit to the leader since August 31 when Piastri last won during his spell as championship leader for 15 Grands Prix.

All three drivers have won seven races this year, with Mercedes’ George Russell winning the other two, and the closeness of the competition this year – albeit that McLaren had the outstanding car until they clinched the constructors’ title and stopped bringing updates – suggests a fierce and dramatic ending lies ahead.

Norris has the simplest task and a stable temperament linked to a modest if not self-effacing personality.

“We’ve had an incredible season with an incredible car and I am proud of everyone,” he said.

“We have one more race and we will give it everything.”

While a podium will be enough for Norris to claim his maiden title, Piastri needs to win or finish second and hope for help from others while Verstappen must win and hope Norris is no better than fourth.

“I didn’t expect this, but I am still in it so we will give it our best shot,” said Verstappen.

The race will also see Mercedes’ bid to beat Red Bull to second in the teams’ title race and the luckless Yuki Tsunoda make his final outing with Red Bull before being replaced by Racing Bulls’ outstanding rookie Isack Hadjar.

For Ferrari’s seven-time champion Hamilton, a five-time winner in Abu Dhabi, it offers a final chance to end his unwanted record of a first season without a podium while the team hunt a first win since his predecessor Carlos Sainz triumphed in Mexico last year.

Published – December 05, 2025 04:58 am IST

Oscar Piastri was gifted victory by his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in Saturday’s sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix as the British team consolidated their bid for the constructors’ title for the first time since 1998 with a 1-2 triumph. In an example of perfect teamwork, Norris led from pole to flag before slowing to allow Piastri to win by 0.136 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in third. The result secured 15 points for McLaren in their bid to resist Ferrari, extending their advantage to 34 points with two Grands Prix remaining. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished fourth ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly of Alpine and Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas. 

“It was defence all the way the whole race for me,” said Piastri. “I had a good start and then Turn One, but not the pace I needed and then I was struggling, but it was great teamwork and a great McLaren 1-2!”

Norris said he had disobeyed the team to give Piastri his victory as his payback for the Australian’s assistance at the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint when he was hoping to keep alive his bid for the drivers’ title and Piastri gave him the victory.  

“We scored the 1-2 we were aiming for and we have maximum points so I am happy for the team… Perfectly-executed! We did our job. It ended a bit closer than I wanted, but I had this planned since Brazil and it’s what I wanted. The team told me not to do it, but I did it the best way I could.”

Russell said: “We were very close in T1 a couple of times, but Lando backing up to help Oscar with DRS… It was pretty infuriating to be honest, but I understand why.”

The race was preceded by much paddock discussion of Hamilton’s speed, or apparent lack of it in Friday’s qualifying, the Briton claiming he was “definitely not fast anymore” after being outqualified again by Russell. 

His former McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, reacted by saying: “it’s getting to him a little bit… But, that’s the thing with Lewis. 

“You expect him to get more in qualifying. It hasn’t happened, but we know his pace and he’s still quick. It is in there.”

As if to prove it, Hamilton made a blistering start by overtaking Leclerc as Norris led from pole, with Piastri passing Russell for second. Verstappen, struggling with oversteer, dropped to eighth. 

“I’m trying to five Oscar DRS every lap,” said Norris, in hope of helping McLaren claim a valuable one-two.

By lap 10, Norris was ahead of Piastri by three-tenths with Russell nine-tenths back in third, ahead of Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc and Hulkenberg. Most were in a ‘DRS train’ and preserving their tyres for the final laps. 

On lap 13, a masterful move by Leclerc into Turn One saw the Monegasque fight his way past Hamilton, the pair running wheel to wheel before the Ferrari pulled away. 

Russell was also busy hunting down Piastri and failed in a bid to pass on lap 14 while Norris reported his front tyres were losing performance -– yet he clocked a fastest lap to stay on top, hoping to drag his team-mate with him.

The order remained unchanged going into lap 18, the penultimate, with Russell attacking again at Turn One on lap 19, Piastri defending adroitly to stay second until they reached the chequered flag where Norris backed off to swap positions. 

“Thank you for the team-work, much appreciated,” said the victorious Piastri as he crossed the line to the relief of team boss Zak Brown. “It’s what we wanted.”

Lando Norris trimmed two points off Max Verstappen’s lead in Formula One’s drivers’ world championship on Saturday after claiming victory ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The title-chasing Briton took the lead on lap 22 of the 24-lap race, when Piastri swapped positions with him before fending off the challenge of three-time champion Verstappen in his Red Bull.

Norris, 24, came home 0.593 seconds clear of Piastri who finished 1.5 seconds ahead of the Dutchman with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth.

Norris admitted he was fortunate to collect his first career sprint race win.

“I’m not proud of it, but it worked well and as a team we had a good day — and thanks to Oscar,” said Norris.

“He deserved to win, but it was good team work and we had great pace. And we executed it well.”

Verstappen leads Norris by 45 points with four races including Sunday’s to come — and one sprint — and it could get worse for the Dutch driver.

At the finish Verstappen — who will start with a five-place grid penalty — was noted for an infringement of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) rules.

“It was a tricky race,” said Verstappen.

“The pace was good and I’m quite pleased with that although it took quite a long time for me to pass Charles (Leclerc) — I had to wait for a mistake to pass him.”

He added he would be aiming to ‘limit the damage’ to his title defence in Sunday’s race.

McLaren’s one-two success lifted them 35 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship and ended Verstappen’s run of four consecutive sprint wins this year.

– ‘Dirty air’ –

Piastri said it had been a terrific day for the team.

“It was tricky and very bumpy out there and the racing line is very narrow, but it was a great day for the team to score a lot of points,” said the Australian.

“We showed we are in decent shape.”

George Russell came home sixth for Mercedes ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, who collected the final point in eighth.

The race began in hot conditions with an air temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and the track at 47, making it tough on tyres.

The two McLarens made a clean start, Piastri covering off the threat of Norris while Leclerc resisted Verstappen’s early attack for third at the Senna S.

Norris was clearly unhappy to be running a second adrift of his McLaren team-mate, asking his team to request Piastri to move aside, but without avail until lap 10 when he was asked to ‘give Lando DRS’ – a signal to switch places.

But Norris remained stuck in second in Piastri’s ‘dirty air’ as he attempted to make his move, the top four staying in place at half distance in the 24-lap sprint.

By lap 17, tyre-wear was affecting several cars and Norris remained six-tenths adrift.

The team told him “we’re happy to make the switch on the last lap,” shortly before Verstappen, with Drag Reduction System (DRS) and superior pace, swept past Leclerc on the straight.

McLaren finally made their swap on lap 22, leaving Piastri vulnerable in second to the charging Verstappen before a VSC was deployed with two laps to go.

Verstappen, who closed very near to Piastri, immediately complained that he was running too slowly before the race went ‘green’ again for a final flying lap.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix was scheduled to take place later on Saturday amid fears of rain.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri held off pole-sitter Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari for an epic win.© AFP

Oscar Piastri made clear on Thursday that he will not be pulling over to help his team-mate Lando Norris at every one of the remaining eight races this year following McLaren’s decision to adopt team orders in support of the title-chasing Briton. Speaking to reporters in Baku ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Australian said he had accepted the principle of helping Norris, to support both him and the team. But he said he was adamant that he would remain free to race against him in certain races and circumstances.

“The main point is that it’s not purely going to be me pulling over for Lando at every single race because that’s how none of us, including Lando, want to go racing,” he said.

“Trying to go through all the scenarios is impossible and, of course, we don’t want to discuss that publicly.

“But I think the main one is if we feel that someone has done a much better job on a weekend, whatever way it is, we want that person to be rewarded.

“That’s where it becomes a little bit tricky. We need to continue discussing that.

“It’s not simply a blanket ‘I am going to be behind Lando in every single race, in every decision ever taken from here on’ because I still have things I want to achieve in the championship.

“As a team, we’re not leading the constructors’ (championship) so we need to make sure we win that… It’s very important we maintain that kind of trust.”

Team chief Andrea Stella had earlier Thursday told the BBC that McLaren would adopt team orders in certain scenarios to support Norris’s bid to overhaul three-time champion Max Verstappen’s 62-point lead in the drivers’ title race.

The Dutchman, who dominated last season for Red Bull, is without a win in six races during which his rivals have closed the performance gap.

“It needs more discussion,” said Piastri. “It’s something we have discussed a lot in the last few days and, of course, selfishly as a driver and in my own interests, team orders are not fun.

“In saying that, I realise there’s a much bigger picture here than just myself – I race for a team that’s given me my opportunity in F1 and a team that has given me the opportunity to win races within 18 months of being here.

“I have a lot of gratitude for that. Again, the bigger picture is about just more than me. We’re trying to achieve both championships, which for the team is an incredibly big thing.

“Of course, the constructors’ is one thing but if you have the opportunity to win both championships then as a team, it’s a massive objective to try and achieve that.”

Max Verstappen will look for an improved personal and team performance this weekend when Red Bull seek to stop the rot and stay on top in the Formula One title race at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After a run of six races without a win that has coincided with the revival of his rivals, the Dutchman arrives in Baku with a 62-point lead in the drivers’ championship ahead of Lando Norris. His team’s advantage ahead of McLaren has also been trimmed to only eight points.

Verstappen’s and Red Bull’s last victory, his 61st, came at the Spanish Grand Prix in June while team-mate Sergio Perez last won on the streets of Baku, claiming his sixth career triumph and second in Azerbaijan in last year’s race.

Red Bull’s supreme domination that has seen them leading the constructors’ championship for more than two years, since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, will end if McLaren outscore them by nine points on Sunday.

In the aftermath of Aston Martin’s glossy unveiling of Red Bull’s star designer Adrian Newey as future managing technical partner on Tuesday, another defeat to knock them off the top could be seen as significant.

Both Verstappen and Mexican Perez have been busy working on finding solutions to their slump in form since Charles Leclerc claimed victory for Ferrari at Monza on September 1.

“Monza was a tough race for us and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be,” said Verstappen.

“We always want to be more competitive and the team has been working hard on the issues we’ve had.”

“We’ve had a good period of reflection and work since the last race,” said Perez. “Both Max and I have been in the factory working to ensure we are finding a fix for the problems.

“To get back to where we should be on the grid, it will take a team effort and you can see that every day in Milton Keynes. This has pulled us all together.”

Perez leaning on Baku memories

Perez finished eighth at Monza, two places behind three-time world champion Verstappen, while both Ferraris, both McLarens and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton filled the top five.

After a season of much speculation about his future at Red Bull following a string of poor results, he welcomes the return to a venue he likes.

He is the only two-time winner in Baku and has scored more points there than any other driver.

“Personally, I love to race there,” he said. “Street circuits suit my style and Baku is a fun track.”

Ferrari will also be filled with hope in Baku after their success with an upgraded car at Monza where revisions to the floor and other areas proved successful.

But team chief Fred Vasseur stressed that the team will be focused on consistency and not checking the championship standings this weekend as they chase down Red Bull and McLaren.

“We have to focus on doing a good job every weekend and if something has to come to us, it will come. It’s no good to focus on the championship and be conservative… everything can change so much from one week to the next.”

With McLaren and Mercedes both claiming wins in recent races, a close scrap on the fast and challenging street track is in prospect, with Ferrari’s reserve driver Oliver Bearman replacing Kevin Magnussen alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Haas.

Dane Magnussen has been banned after accumulating 12 penalty points.

Charles Leclerc won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday to delight Ferrari’s massed ranks of fans as Lando Norris again chipped away at struggling champion Max Verstappen’s lead in the Formula One drivers’ standings. Monegasque Leclerc claimed victory at Monza for the second time after winning in 2019, holding off McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Norris in a thrilling race in which Verstappen finished nearly 38 seconds off the pace in sixth. Huge roars engulfed the stands as Leclerc took the chequered flag for his second win over the season, after his own home Monaco GP, after holding out on a set of hard tyres he had changed during his one and only pit stop on the 16th lap.

“I thought that the first time would feel like this and the second time wouldn’t feel as special,” said Leclerc as he basked in the cheers of fans who made the track a joyous, noisy sea of red after the race.

“But my god the emotions in the last few laps; Monaco and Monza are the two races I want to win every year and I’ve managed to win them this year. It is so, so special.”

All of Leclerc’s major rivals, apart from teammate Carlos Sainz who ended up finishing fourth ahead of his Ferrari replacement Lewis Hamilton, pitted twice and McLaren were hoping that the Ferrari pair would do the same.

Instead Leclerc managed to keep his tyres in good enough condition to stay ahead and in the end finish the race comfortably in front of Piastri, who had taken the race lead early on after an overtake manoeuvre on Norris which was as daring as it was tactically questionable.

“Not going to lie it hurts a lot. I did a lot of things right today,” said Australian Piastri.

“Happy with the race, the pace I achieved but when you finish second it hurts.”

Verstappen woes

Briton Norris — who clocked the fastest lap right at the end — will be disappointed by his finish after starting on pole but he managed to chop Verstappen’s championship lead to 62 points with eight races remaining as his Dutch rival’s barren run continued.

“We considered (pitting once) the whole race but it was impossible with our graining. Just disappointed. Ferrari did a better job, so hats off to them,” said Norris.

Verstappen has now failed to win any of the last six GPs after claiming the honours in seven of the first 10, and his and Red Bull’s dominance of F1 looks increasingly in question.

A fourth straight world title looked a near certainty when Verstappen won in Spain back in June, but since then he has only finished on the podium twice.

And his teammate Sergio Perez finishing in eighth meant that McLaren are now only eight points behind Red Bull in the constructor’s standings and look favourites to win it for the first time since 1998.

Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto, who replaced axed Logan Sargeant for Williams following his disastrous showing at the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend, finish in 12th in his F1 debut.

Earlier Leonardo Fornaroli became the first Italian to win the F3 title, the 19-year-old doing so without winning a single race in this year’s championship.

Trident driver Fornaroli overtook Australian Christian Mansell on the final corner of the 10-race season to grab third place and snatch the title from Gabriele Mini by two points.

Gabriel Bortoleto won the F2 race in dramatic fashion after starting last on the grid, cutting Isack Hadjar’s lead at the top of the stands to just 10.5 points with three races remaining in the season.

George Russell is the form man in Formula 1 at the moment, as he grabbed a second pole position in four races to head an all-British top 3 in the British Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. Russell finished 0.171s ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified P2. McLaren’s Lando Norris slotted in third, despite being the favourite going into qualifying. His teammate Oscar Piastri qualified P5. It was a disappointing day for Max Verstappen by his standards, as he qualified only fourth. But how did Mercedes come out on top?

Wet weather the secret to Mercedes success

Not for the first time in 2024, the Mercedes came alive in cooler conditions. Much like the Canadian GP when Russell grabbed pole, a wet-to-dry qualifying session suited the Mercedes car during qualifying, making them the team to beat on the soft tyre runs.

Championship leader Max Verstappen went off into the gravel in Q1, and a possible loss of downforce from that incident meant that the Dutchman was never really in contention for pole.

With rain on the cards on Sunday, George Russell will be eyeing up a second successive win, after his Austrian GP success last weekend.

Watch out for Hamilton, Norris

Lewis Hamilton is an eight-time winner at Silverstone, and no driver drives the circuit quite like the seven-time world champion. Starting on the front row, Hamilton, for once in 2024, will not have to rue a poor qualifying result.

Lando Norris in the McLaren is likely to also take the fight to the two Silver Arrows. In recent weekends, the McLaren has been the fastest car on raceday.

Day to forget for Ferrari

Ferrari have abruptly fallen behind Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes, proved by the fact that Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas outqualified Carlos Sainz. The day was even worse for Charles Leclerc, who failed to make it to Q3.

Lance Stroll (P8) also outqualified Fernando Alonso (P10) in the Aston Martin team.

Earlier in the day, Sergio Perez beached it in the gravel in Q1, meaning it was yet another Q1 elimination for the Mexican.

British GP Qualifying Top 10: 1. George Russell, 2. Lewis Hamilton, 3. Lando Norris, 4. Max Verstappen, 5. Oscar Piastri, 6. Nico Hulkenberg, 7. Carlos Sainz, 8. Lance Stroll, 9. Alex Albon, 10. Fernando Alonso.

McLaren driver Lando Norris fought right to the end, but it was Max Verstappen who won his seventh race of the season at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix. The gap between the two drivers were separated by only 2.2 seconds at the chequered flag, after a valiant push from the British driver, to close the gap from more than eight seconds at one point. Mercedes finished third and fourth for the second consecutive race, but this time, Lewis Hamilton grabbed his first Grand Prix podium of 2024.

At the start of the race, George Russell went from fourth to first in the first turn, with an audacious move. Crucially, Verstappen also pipped pole-sitter Norris at the start. The Dutchman would soon overtake Russell on Lap 3, a move that would allow him to manage his pace and tyres at the front.

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished where they started, coming home in fifth and sixth. Leclerc was less than a second behind Russell at the end.

Home hero Fernando Alonso endured a race to forget, finishing pointless at a disappointing 12th place. 

Russell was ahead of Norris and Hamilton for most of the race. However, Mercedes’ decision to put hard tyres on his final stint proved to be the wrong choice, as he slipped down the podium places.

Sainz also spent most of the race ahead of Leclerc, having overtaken him in Lap 2. However, he also fell victim to the hard tyres.

Oscar Piastri recovered from his worst qualifying of 2024 to finish seventh, while Sergio Perez got eighth. 

And it was a bright day for French constructors Alpine, as both Pierre Gasly (P9) and Esteban Ocon (P10) finished in the points. 

Verstappen continues to lead the championship standings, now going 70 points in front of everyone. Norris, however, has leapfrogged Leclerc to second.

The F1 circus next heads to Austria, for the Austrian GP, on June 30.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton topped the times ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri in an intriguing opening free practice for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton clocked a best lap in his Mercedes of 1minute and 12.169 seconds to outpace McLaren’s Piastri by 0.029sec with his ‘silver arrows’ team-mate George Russell third. Lando Norris was fourth in the second McLaren ahead of local favourite Charles Leclerc in the leading Ferrari, two-time champion Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll. 

The late pause, after Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu lost control of his Sauber, interrupted some teams’ plans to switch to soft tyres in the closing minutes, leading to an unrepresentative outcome.

Three-time world champion Max Verstappen, who did not run on softs, complained about his Red Bull car as he struggled in 11th place and 0.815secs off the pace. 

“It is so loose on the bumps, any correction with engine braking or brake bias just makes it worse,” said Verstappen, who remarked on Thursday he envisaged a tough weekend labelling the track “one of the more difficult” for the team.

McLaren introduced a striking yellow and green livery as a tribute to the late Ayrton Senna, one of many changes as the teams switched from the sweeping corners of Imola last weekend to the narrow and unforgiving barriers of Monaco. 

On an overcast day with rain threatening, Hamilton led the cars out of the pit-lane to start the session, most teams opting for hards. 

Piastri set the early pace ahead of Verstappen whose father Jos was present for the first time since Red Bull’s early season off the track difficulties.

Norris soon took over for McLaren with a lap in 1:15.294 before Leclerc gained the initiative in 1:14.238.

Norris and Leclerc continued swapping fastest laps, the Monegasque showing his form on the track that was his childhood bus-run to school. 

After 30 minutes of the hour Verstappen and then Hamilton moved up to second before Russell went top on softs ahead of his Mercedes team-mate.

Hamilton then improved to 1:12.169 to go top before Zhou Guanyu crashed to trigger a red flag. 

The Chinese driver clipped a barrier and lost part of his front wing which was then collected by Leclerc’s Ferrari as he ran over the debris. 

This forced Leclerc to pit for repairs as light rain fell and on resumption Perez pitted with a puncture.