Over the course of the 2025 Formula One season, there were three main drivers that fought over the title of World Champion. In the end, only one would be crowned number one.
McLaren kicked off the season strong, winning the first two races and showing the speed and dominance of their car. Due to the team’s impressive performance, they were able to clutch the World Constructors Championship title in Round 18. However, when it came to their drivers having to battle for the World Drivers Championship title, it was no longer smooth sailing.
For the last four years, Max Verstappen has dominated the pack. However, this season started off rocky for Redbull’s star boy. Over the first half of the season, Verstappen only managed to get two wins out of fourteen races. Since the summer break, Verstappen’s performance has tremendously improved, winning five out of nine races. Due to the sudden rise in his performance, he closed the World Drivers Championship point gap to leader Lando Norris.
On the other hand, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri had an impressive start to the season, but after he did not finish (DNF) in Azerbaijan, there was a noticeable decline in his performance. Meanwhile, his teammate Lando Norris started to outperform him. Norris had an impressive win at the Mexico City Grand Prix, finishing the race by a whopping 30 seconds ahead of everyone and taking the lead in the championship from his teammate.
Going into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Norris was 24 points ahead of Piastri and Verstappen. Norris finished P2 behind Verstappen, which was not enough for him to win the championship. However, after the race, both McLaren cars failed to pass FIA regulations, resulting in both cars being disqualified and neither drivers earning points. Due to the double disqualification for McLaren, and Verstappen winning the race, Verstappen closed the gap to Norris by 24 points, making the standings as follows:
| Norris | 390 |
| Verstappen | 366 |
| Piastri | 366 |
After a disappointing Las Vegas Grand Prix, McLaren hoped to make a comeback in Qatar, but due to a bad race strategy, Norris finished fourth and Piastri finished second. Verstappen’s win at Qatar allowed him to gain more points over Piastri and put himself 12 points behind Norris going into the last race of the season.
The last time there were three drivers in contention to win the championship before the last race was in 2007 with Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen, and Fernando Alonso. This year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the championship decider. In order for Lando to win the championship title, the lowest he could finish was P3 if Verstappen won. After an intense qualifying, Verstappen ended up on pole with Norris P2 and Piastri P3. On the first lap of the race, Verstappen held his lead into the first corner, and Norris was quickly put under pressure from Piastri, eventually getting passed by him. The race ended with Verstappen P1, Piastri P2, and Norris P3.
Even though Norris finished P3 and Verstappen finished P1, Norris was still able to clutch the World Drivers Championship title by one point. Lando Norris never gave up on achieving his dream of becoming a world champion, and in the end, he was crowned number one.
