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Manila Bulletin devider Drive devider Lando Norris wins 2025 F1 Driver's Championship

Lando Norris wins 2025 F1 Driver's Championship

Verstappen's four-year championship streak ended

Published Dec 8, 2025 11:02 am

At A Glance

  • The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix delivered a nail-biting, title-deciding finale with Lando Norris ultimately crowned the sport's 35th World Champion.
  • The McLaren F1 Team has lots to celebrate with Norris' Driver's Championship and the team's Constructor's Championship this year.
There could not be a more exciting conclusion to the 2025 Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix delivered a nail-biting, title-deciding finale with Lando Norris ultimately crowned the sport’s 35th World Champion. Lando Norris, 26, is the new F1 Driver’s Champion, ending Verstappen’s four-year championship streak. Norris took the championship with just a 2-point difference, one of the closest battles in the sport’s recent history.
Nailbiting conclusion
The excitement was palpable leading up to finale with three drivers (Norris, Verstappen, and Piastri) still in contention to clinch the World Championship.
Norris seemed to be a shoe-in for the Championship as early as Round 20 in Mexico, however, several victories taken by teammate Oscar Piastri, and rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull over the next Grands Prix quickly whittled down that lead.
The tension further mounted as Max Verstappen secured pole position (first on the grid) during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying. During the race, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari also seemed determined to catch and overtake Norris, which could demote him a place down and cede the Championship to Verstappen.
In the end, Norris managed to hold on to third place, enough to give him the points necessary to secure the championship. Teammate Oscar Piastri secured second, while Max Verstappen took first place.
The McLaren F1 Team has lots to celebrate with Norris’ Driver’s Championship and the team’s Constructor’s Championship this year. McLaren was last Constructor's Champion in 2008.
Interesting stats
This season also yielded some very interesting statistics:
Max Verstappen, the previous world champion, ends his four-year world championship streak, holding on to the World Champion title for 1,457 days. Nonetheless, he won eight Grands Prix this year, winning the most Grands Prix of any driver for the fifth consecutive year.
Lando Norris is the 35th driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship. He is the seventh McLaren World Driver’s Champion. Securing the title before him were Emerson Fittipaldi (1974), James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985-86, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990-91), Mika Hakkinen (1998-99) and Lewis Hamilton (2008). Norris is the 11th World Champion from Great Britain, with this title being the 21st championship for a British driver overall.
This victory has been a long-time coming for Norris, who has had the fourth longest career in F1 history before becoming World Champion (152 races). He is just behind Jenson Button (160), Nigel Mansell (176) and Nico Rosberg (206).
As the season ends on a high, this is by no means a time to take it easy. There are only 91 days for the teams to prepare for the season-opening race of the 2026 season in Australia. The 2026 season will introduce a number of controversial rule-changes for the teams. Among the being the new powertrains which must have a 50/50 split between internal combustion engine, and electric power. The famous drag-reduction system (used by the drivers on straights to facilitate easier overtaking) will be banned. Instead, teams have been allowed to develop adaptive aerodynamic devices that can increase downforce in turns and decrease when on straights. Finally, the long-awaited 11th Team, Cadillac F1, will be joining next season, while Kick Sauber will become the Audi F1 team.

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