Lando Norris crowned F1 world champion in dramatic Abu Dhabi finale

Lando Norris is Formula 1’s newest world champion, clinching the 2025 title with a dramatic third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The McLaren driver secured the championship by a mere two points over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won the race, while teammate Oscar Piastri finished second. Norris becomes the 11th British driver to win the title and the 35th champion in the sport’s history.

Why it matters:

Norris’s championship victory marks the culmination of a seven-year journey with McLaren, a team he joined as a junior driver in 2017. After years of near-misses and a long wait for his first Grand Prix victory, his title win signals a definitive shift at the top of the sport and rewards McLaren’s patient investment in their homegrown talent. It also breaks Max Verstappen’s recent dominance, proving the championship battle is truly open again.

The details:

• The 2025 title decider came down to the final race in Abu Dhabi, with Norris needing only a top-three finish to secure the crown.
• Verstappen won the race, but Norris’s third place was enough to claim the championship by two points in the standings.
• McLaren had already secured the Constructors’ Championship with six rounds to spare, but the drivers’ title became a three-way fight between Norris, Piastri, and a surging Verstappen in the final third of the season.
• Norris’s path to the title included a breakthrough maiden win at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, which ended a record 15 podium finishes without a victory, and key wins in the Netherlands and Singapore that kept him in contention.

The big picture:

Norris’s championship is a story of perseverance and development. After joining F1 in 2019, he steadily improved alongside McLaren’s resurgence. His 2021 season was particularly strong, where he outperformed highly-rated teammate Daniel Ricciardo and came agonizingly close to a win in Russia. Despite a difficult start to the 2023 season, a mid-year car upgrade propelled him to seven podiums, setting the stage for his 2024 breakthrough and ultimate 2025 title triumph. His self-described pessimistic and self-critical approach has been a unique driving force in his career.

What's next:

With a long-term contract at McLaren running through the end of 2027, Norris is positioned to lead the team into the next era of regulations. McLaren has already committed to Mercedes power units for the major 2026 powertrain overhaul, securing a key technical partnership. Having finally reached the pinnacle, the focus for Norris and McLaren will now shift to defending their hard-won titles and establishing a new period of success for the historic team.