The 2025 Formula 1 season has brought chaos to the final stretch, as the drivers’ championship will come down to the last race of the season: The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Dec. 7.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the four-time reigning drivers’ champion, claimed victory at the Qatar Grand Prix on Nov. 30, while this season’s top driver, Lando Norris, from McLaren, finished in fourth. Verstappen’s win bumped him to second in the standings and guaranteed a championship battle between him, Norris and Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who stands in third.
The Abu Dhabi race should be an electric showdown between the three drivers. Norris enters with a recent string of strong performances, including three podium finishes in the last six races. As long as Norris places within the top-three finishers in Abu Dhabi, he will finish as the world champion.
While Verstappen struggled earlier in the season, his win in Qatar brought him to 396 points, just 12 behind Norris. Depending on his performance in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen could take his fifth consecutive world championship title.
Piastri, now trailing four points behind Verstappen, is trapped within a more complicated scenario. Earlier in the season, he appeared poised to tackle Norris directly. However, a series of disappointing weekends marked by missed podiums, a did-not-finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and a Las Vegas Grand Prix that saw both him and Norris disqualified has left him in a vulnerable position. To win the world title, Piastri would need to place at least second in Abu Dhabi with subpar finishes from the other contenders.
The constructors’ championship, based on total team points, will not be as exciting, with McLaren already securing the title, but Mercedes and Red Bull are locked in their own struggle for second place, with Mercedes currently sitting at 459 points and Red Bull with 426.
There have also been important developments off the track this season. At the most recent F1 Commission meeting on Nov. 14, the sport’s dignitaries gathered in London to discuss potential changes for the 2026 season, including mandating two pit stops in races, adjusting aerodynamic testing procedures to reflect advances in simulation technology, adjusting tire specifications and introducing new standards for driver cooling systems. However, F1’s governing body has not finalized these changes and the commission plans to continue its discussions after the opening races of 2026.
Additionally, the grid will expand to 11 teams next season for the first time since 2016, with Cadillac entering the fold. Veteran drivers Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas will compete for the new team after losing their seats in 2024 at Red Bull and Kick Sauber, respectively. Red Bull is also going through a shakeup next season, replacing Yuki Tsunoda with current Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar. Racing Bulls will, in turn, replace him with Racing Bulls Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad.
As the title fight tightens and new developments approach, F1 finds itself in a moment made of equal parts urgency and anticipation. The remaining race will decide a champion, and the changes on the horizon might set the tone for a new era.
