Dec 06, 2025
3 min read
For the first time since 2010, more than two drivers have a shot to the title in the final of the season, so how did the main championship support arrived here?
YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi - In less than 48 hours we will have a new Formula 1 World Champion.Lando Norris went into the season finale in Abu Dhabi a breather ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastre.
This is the first time since 2010 that more than two drivers will enter the final race of the season with a shot at the title.So how did this come about?And what did Friday's performance tell us about the Trio title?
Lawrence Edmondson and Nate Saunders look at the highs and lows of Norris, Verstappen and Piastre's campaigns and analyze Friday's practice to find out who is best placed to take the crown on Sunday.
Completion of the Competition: 1
Best finish in Abu Dhabi: 1st (2024)
The story of their season: Personal growth was the main thing this year.Pre-season favorite Norris went into the season hot, winning the opening race in Melbourne, but mistakes quickly crept in and he found himself beaten by his more inexperienced team-mate Piatri and run out by Verstappen at grands prix such as Miami, raising the same old questions about his strength and ability to handle pressure.But to his credit, he has revived things in recent months.Norris' defending champion looked dead and buried after a car crash at the Dutch Grand Prix in August, but his form since then has seen him return to the championship lead.He goes into the final as a convincing favorite.
The best run: There are several open contenders, including his day in a stressful, rainy Australian Grand Press, when Verstoraden chased him late.It's good, but mostly his victory in Mexico City in October, one of the victories of his revival season.so far
Low point: Norris made a few mistakes earlier this year, but the clumsy collision with Piastri in Montreal cannot be condoned.The move seemed unconvincing and a godsend for those in the camp who believe Norris' racing skills were never good enough to be considered an elite competitor.
What a title does for his reputation: For Norris, the championship shows that you don't have to be a cold-blooded Verstappen type to win a title.Norris has embraced mental health since his F1 debut in 2019, showing a vulnerability not often seen in the sport by speaking openly about his pre-race anxieties and his struggles with mental health as a young competitor.He never cares about critics and silences their heroism amazingly.Whether that will convince everyone remains to be seen, but who cares when you can call yourself a world champion driver?
Championship position: 2i
Best Ranking in Abu Dhabi: 1st (2021, 2022, 2023)
The story of his season: Verstrappen really shouldn't be here, but he got through the wheels that kept him behind the wheel.Formula 1 in August to go into the final race with a legitimate shot at the championship in August.Wins in Italy, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Austin and Las Vegas catapulted him into contention and cemented him in the minds and hearts of everyone wearing the McLaren papaya jersey.
Best moment: With the focus on the end-of-season races, a win earlier in the year showed Verstappen at his best.He started third at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola and his move past George Russell and Piastre at Turn 1 was quite encouraging.Long-time Verstappen critic Russell was also impressed, later saying: "Best overtaking move I've seen in a long time."It was hard to disagree.In a season full of monumental Verstappen moments on track, it was difficult to limit this award to a single event, but Imola should pull ahead.
The non-Formula 1 honor seems to underline the moment of his brilliant season: Verstappen won the dreaded Nürburgring Nordschleife in his first ever sports car endurance race at the weekend sandwiched between victories in Italy and Azerbaijan.Unprecedented stuff for modern times.
Lowest moment: While we've seen a lot of Verstappen's best in 2025, we've also seen a prime example of his worst.The Dutchman had a moment of rage at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, crashing his car into the side of Russell's Mercedes while furious at the handling of the event.Since then Verstappen has admitted that it is a moment that should not have happened, but he showed that even with his experience and the four championships, he can sometimes cross the line.
What the title does to his reputation: Verstappen is already an F1 star, but many in the park believe that in this case, fifth place this year could push him to the brink of the sport's "GOAT" debate. It's subjective, but whether he wins the title this weekend or not, Verstappen's 2025 won't be repeated anytime soon. More than any other in Verstappen's sensational career, this season contradictslogic and confirms a stark fact: Verstappen is the leading talent on the grid right now - and probably not even close.
Championship position: 3rd
Best finish in Abu Dhabi: 6 (2023)
The Story of the Season: Funon's season is in full swing.For several months in the first half of the year, he was sick for a while, got fat, walked and looked cruel.It's worse than laying down a winner without a winner.
Best drive: There are several contenders here, but one stands out as a world champion moment. Piastri's victory at the Miami Grand Prix included a thrilling and relaxed pass by Verstappen after a multi-lap battle with the Red Bull driver. That was in contrast to Norris, who meekly handed the lead to Verstappen early in the race. Piastri also closed the door on giving Verstappen the lead in Saudi Arabia, but in the Miami race he showed composure and determination to fight backthe Dutchman, though many others crumbled.
The lowest moment: It's a matter of perspective.Many say Monza, where Piastre gave in to a controversial and hotly contested request to let Norris out after McLaren changed the pit-stop sequence and then failed to make the last stop.What a climax.The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan must be his lowest point; even with the events of Monza, Piastre had an iron grip on the championship.Baku changed all that, with a clumsy crash in qualifying, followed by an even clumsier one in the race.Piastre seemed like a shell of himself from then on.
What the championship will do for his reputation: While Verstappen's title will be beautiful, Piastri's championship will be interesting from a fan perspective.Obviously, it would be a remarkable recovery from his late-season collapse, which was very difficult to watch.Bring, even if they seem premature at the time.Many will also point to how he overcame his own mistakes and continued frustration with how McLaren had overseen the season to claim the title.The Piastri Tournament will be an exciting dynamic for all involved in 2026.
Abu Dhabi insights on Friday
Norris looked like the driver to beat this weekend based on Friday's run in Abu Dhabi, setting the fastest time ahead of Verstappen in both the first and second practice sessions.The time from the first practice session can be largely ignored because the session takes place in the heat of the early afternoon and does not represent qualifying and racing conditions, but this makes the twilight afternoon data more valuable.
Norris was 0.363 seconds faster than Verstappen on comparable laps on soft tires in second practice, with the McLaren driver gaining a 0.155-second advantage in the relatively high-speed first sector and a 0.296-second advantage in the slow-moving final sector.Verstappen was 0.088 seconds faster than Norris in the middle sector, which includes two long straights connected by Turns 6 and 7 chicanes, but different fuel levels and engine modes could reduce Friday's practice times on board.
Despite the strong start, Norris wasn't completely satisfied when he jumped into the car and said there was still room for improvement.
"I think obviously from the timing and everything, at the moment things are good, but we still want a little bit more from the car," Norris said after the session.
Piastri did not take part in the first practice sessions as the session was always mentioned as one of the FP1s that the rules require to hand over the car to the rookie driver, in this case Indyar.In the second tests, he could only maintain the 17th fastest time, 0.680 seconds behind his teammate.
"I think I did pretty well with the medium [tyre], but the soft didn't maximize the grip in the first lap," he said."So I think I'm finding my feet. But yes, obviously there are some things to try to improve tomorrow, but I think after one session it's not bad."
The first attempt on the soft tire was faster and had no clear faults.The driver had a bit of trouble getting the car, he said he got more front wing - a simple set-up change that could have got him to the final experience and on Saturday.
The first and last sector of Piastri's second attempt was actually faster than his first lap, but he dropped significant time in the middle sector and a close before turn 6.If he connects his three best sectors, Norris will gain 0.551 seconds - still a significant margin in one lap.
The average lap times from the long distances in the second half of the session suggest that the McLaren drivers have the edge over Verstappen's Red Bull in terms of race pace.But the comparison was somewhat skewed after Verstappen completed 15 uninterrupted laps, while Norris did just eight and Piastri seven.
"It was pretty good," Verstappen said.“I mean, I was very happy with the car.We just got a little faster.I think yes, still not fast enough.But overall, for us, I think we were in a decent window here."
One of Red Bull's strong points this year has been improving the car between Friday practice and Saturday qualifying.According to Verstappen, we will need to do the same this weekend to put him in the mix with the McLarens.
"It seems like a reasonable gap that we have to close," he said."But for our part, we will just try to present the best car. And, yes, we will see how much we can get overnight... One lap and a long race have to be better."
Based on Friday's rule, the position is very beneficial, the position is very: Nori is qualified.The only question is whether he and his team can handle the weekend pressure.
