Although Max Verstappen missed out on his fifth world title in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies claimed that he has been left impressed by the “sensational turnaround” the Milton Keynes-based outfit achieved after the summer break.
Starting from pole position, Max Verstappen made a clean start, hanging on to the lead on the opening lap. The Dutchman looked relatively untroubled even if McLaren split the strategy by completing a two-stop race with Lando Norris and a one-stop one with Oscar Piastri.
The Dutchman needed to overtake McLaren’s Australian driver on the track halfway through the race as they were on a different strategy, but from then on, he he drove away to claim his eighth victory of the season.
Although Verstappen gave it everything to close the gap which had been 104 points after the Dutch Grand Prix, but he missed out on his fifth title by the tiniest of margins.
As for his team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda played the team game in his final race for Red Bull, attempting to hold up Norris once the McLaren man pitted. However, he was unable keep the Briton behind, and he was even handed a five-second time penalty as the stewards deemed that he forced Norris wide off the track during their short battle.
Reflecting on the season-closing race in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies said: “Firstly, congratulations to Lando and McLaren. They have been superb all year and have been our fiercest competitors this season, so a huge well-done to their whole team.
“It was so tight this year, and we put up a really great fight right to the end, finishing with a dominant display today. We didn’t expect to put in a performance like that around this track, so a big credit to the Team and to Max for getting the car into a position to do exactly that.
And with that… the 2025 season comes to an end 🏆#F1 || #AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/nVY1Pukm1a
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 7, 2025
“Starting from pole, we knew the win could be in our hands, and Max was perfect from start to finish, with excellent tyre management to see us through
“I’d also like to thank Yuki, who played the team game today, as he did last night, and we thank him for never giving up this season. We simply could not have done anything more.
Signing off with a word for his feelings after his first ‘part-time’ season as Red Bull’s team boss, Mekies added: “The dominant feeling is one of pride for this sensational turnaround.
“The effort that every single person in this Team, in the campus and on the race track, has put in is nothing short of incredible. We showed true racing spirit – the Red Bull spirit – right up to the very last lap,” the Frenchman concluded.