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Lando Norris has become the 35th
different champion in 75 years of Formula 1 after taking the third place he
needed to clinch the drivers’ title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with his
McLaren team already having wrapped up the constructors’ championship in
Singapore.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the race from pole, while
the other title protagonist, Oscar Piastri, was second. All three drivers
adopted different tyre strategies for the 58-lap race, which got underway at
17:00 in daylight and continued for nearly two hours into the night.
Verstappen started on the medium and then switched to the hard on lap 24,
whereas Piastri did the opposite by starting on the hard and then moving to
the medium on lap 42.
Norris however made two pit stops: starting on
the medium and then completing two stints on the hard to reach the finish.
Piastri actually managed to pass his team mate on the opening lap
despite being on the harder tyre, but the strategy selected for Norris was
enough to guarantee him the final podium place required to clinch the title
by two points from Verstappen.
All three compounds were seen on the
grid, with some drivers further down the order choosing to start on the soft
tyre. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, celebrating his 250th grand prix, was one of
them: making up more places than any other driver – nine – after starting
from P18 and finishing ninth with a two-stop strategy.
With no safety
cars, retirements, or yellow flags it was a straightforward fight to the
finish: with the three drivers who have dominated the season locking out the
podium.
MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR
“Congratulations to Lando Norris on winning his first drivers’ title. The
battle went all the way to the final round of the season – which was one of
the most closely-fought of the last few years thanks to the similarly
competitive pace of the different teams. Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri
certainly didn’t hold back today, giving us a thrilling final.
In
terms of strategy, the majority of the teams opted for a one-stopper using
the most consistent two compounds as we expected: in some cases, stretching
the hard tyre stint for more than 40 laps. Even though there was no graining
on the hardest compound, there were still inevitably some signs of wear in
the final laps.
Among the drivers choosing the alternative strategy,
the newly crowned champion Lando Norris stands out. He went for a
two-stopper, probably prompted by the extra pit stop for Ferrari’s Charles
Leclerc, using the two fresh sets of hard tyres that McLaren had saved in
their build-up to the race.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also used a
fresh set of tyres for his final stint, which in this case was the medium.
This excellent choice allowed him to make up several places, underlining how
close the two strategic options were, as shown by our simulations.
Pirelli’s job does not stop here: we will be back on track on Tuesday
together with all the teams for a full test day, A total of 10 mule cars
piloted by the race drivers will try out the new 2026 tyre range, while 10
young drivers will take to the track with this year’s cars and tyres.”
Formula 2
For the 33-lap feature race, held in the heat of the day
with track temperatures of 42 degrees, there was a mixture of supersoft and
medium tyres on the grid – with those at the front favouring the faster
compound for a quick getaway. Roman Stanek led from pole, but the first of
two safety car periods was already in place by lap two.
Most of the
supersoft runners, including the leader, came in shortly after the pit
window opened on lap six, while the medium runners – headed by newly crowned
champion Leonardo Fornaroli – ran a longer opening stint, pitting with three
laps to go. By the time all the stops had shaken out, AIX Racing’s Joshua
Duerksen took the lead to seal an identical win in Abu Dhabi to the one that
he had claimed last year: starting in P8 and finishing first. Stanek’s
runner-up spot was enough to clinch the 2025 teams’ title for Invicta
Racing, while Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad was the highest-placed driver
to run the alternative medium-supersoft strategy, eventually ending up ninth
from 10th on the grid.
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