Lando Norris won his first F1 world title despite Max Verstappen finishing first in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Norris needed a podium finish to secure his maiden world championship and came home in P3 after his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri passed him on the first lap.

Norris entered 2025 as the title favorite, and won the opening race. But Piastri soon began to outshine him and took the championship lead, holding it for most of the season. But in the final stretch, Piastri slumped while Norris went on a hot streak, and the British driver regained the championship lead in late October.

McLaren's Lando Norris sobbed tears of joy and relief as he won the Formula One championship for the first time and ended Max Verstappen's four-year reign with a nervy third place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.

A look back at how Lando Norris came out on top in a tense season-long title race against Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen; Norris was 34 points behind Piastri at one point during the season but fough

The 26-year-old Norris became the first British champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020, and he also denied Max Verstappen a fifth straight title.

The Dutchman won in Abu Dhabi from the pole position for a third straight race victory, a season-leading eighth and 71st of a stellar career.

The victory, aided by a costly strategy error by McLaren, sets up a thrilling three-way title decider next Sunday with Lando Norris leading Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in the standings.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the last time Formula 1 uses the Drag Reduction System overtaking aid, introduced in 2011.

A former guest of the VR46 team during a recent visit to the MotoGP paddock at Misano, Norris’ 2025 F1 title was branded “beautiful” by one-time race winner Fabio Di Giannantonio in a video released by the squad.

Michael Masi was Formula 1's race director for roughly three years but after a controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he bid farewell to the sport