Lando Norris wins the 2025 drivers’ title in tense season finale, finishing third behind his two championship rivals. Max Verstappen took a straightforward victory with Oscar Piastri in 2nd.
Lights Out & Away We Go
The tension was palpable on the packed grid for this title decider. With the three title contenders standing around the trophy as the national anthem played, all looking upon their ultimate desire.
The McLarens split their strategy from the off, with Oscar Piastri opting for the hard tyre and Norris the medium. This gave them flexibility in their battle with Verstappen in the lone Red Bull.
As the lights went out, the protagonists kept their starting positions. Verstappen blocked off Norris’ line into turn 1, with Piastri keeping a watching eye over both of them in 3rd. Russell was the big loser as wheel spin off the line dropped him back 2 places.
The action wasn’t finished however, as Piastri got a great exit from the Turn 6 chicane, slipstreamed his teammate down the second long straight and overtook around the outside. This was a great move and a necessary one for the Australian’s race.
Pit Stops & Penalties
The field fell into its rhythm early on as they got the high fuel stage out of the way. Verstappen didn’t employ Hamilton’s 2016 tactics of backing the field up as it stretched out but not enough to have a clear gap.
Lando pulled the trigger on Lap 17 to go onto the hard tyre and dropped to 9th. The issue here was that he dropped to the back of the DRS train created by Hadjar, but Lando quickly got to work. He passed Antonelli and Sainz before a beautiful double on Lawson and Stroll.
However, danger wasn’t far away. Next up, was Yuki Tsunoda. The 2nd Red Bull deployed to slow the McLaren up. As Norris got into position to overtake down the main straight, Yuki was instructed to make it difficult. Lando made his move but Yuki was overzealous in his defence, weaving and forcing Norris off the track, but Lando was through.
There was a tense 10 minutes for Norris fans as both he and Tsunoda were under investigation for their part in the action. After deliberation, the stewards decided Tsunoda was at fault for excessive weaving and gave him a 5-second penalty.
Lando was free to get on with his race. Through all this, the threat of Leclerc behind him started to ease, as the McLaren slowly built the gap to the Ferrari in 4th.
More Late Pitstops, More Tension
Charles Leclerc triggered the 2nd set of stops to go onto the mediums, which brought Norris in to cover him. A lap later, Piastri took his mandatory stop to go onto the hards himself after going very long on the mediums. This dropped him 25 seconds behind Verstappen with a lot to do as Red Bull decided to leave the Dutchman out on a one-stop.
As it stood, Lando was winning the title in 3rd, following Verstappen and Piastri home. The threat was from behind, with a fast-approaching Leclerc around 5 seconds back.
Lando Norris Wins Drivers Title
After Leclerc initially looked like posing a threat, Lando slowly got on top of the pace and pulled away to solidify his championship position. He was even catching his teammate before his team called the fight off. The last 10 laps slowly ticked down, and as the chequered flag fell, Landon Norris became the newest Formula 1 World Champion.