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Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen came into the 2025 season at Abu Dhabi in contention for the title. Yet, despite dominating the race, it was Lando Norris who defended the 12-point lead at Yas Marina and became the 2025 F1 World Champion. The Dutchman took to the team radio and reacted to losing the title.
Max Verstappen began the season in a troublesome RB21 and consistently complained about balance issues. Over midway through the season, after the Dutch GP, Verstappen was 104 points behind the championship leader, and many deemed him out of the title race.
Red Bull brought upgrades to the RB21, and in combination with his determination, Verstappen was back in the title fight. Despite losing points to Lando Norris in Mexico, Verstappen's drives at Brazil, Las Vegas and Qatar meant he was back in the title fight going into Abu Dhabi.
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The Red Bull started on pole position and dominated the whole race, and won. However, Norris just needed to finish on the podium to become the champion, and he did so by finishing P3 behind Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver won the title by two points.
After the race ended, Max Verstappen took to the team radio as his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, asked the Dutchman to be proud and keep his head up. Verstappen detailed the comeback and claimed that he was proud of the team.
“Congrats guys. What a comeback in the second half of the season. We can be really proud of that. Don't be too disappointed, I am definitely not disappointed. Really proud of everyone who never gave up. Keep pushing, never giving up, believing in making it a success again even when it was really difficult so, thank you very much everyone. Thank you Honda for all these years together and all these amazing successes we've had. Definitely closed it in style,” said Max Verstappen on the team radio.
“It's going to be a long night” - Max Verstappen and Stefano Domenicali pull Lando Norris' leg in cool-down room
Max Verstappen was one of the first drivers to congratulate Lando Norris after getting out of the car. The Briton then attended the post-race interview and celebrated with his team and family. As Norris arrived in the cooldown room, Verstappen once again congratulated him.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali then arrived in the cool-down room and congratulated all three drivers for a brilliant season. As Norris was full of emotion and lay down on the couch, Domenicali asked him not to sleep yet and said (via the NY Times):
“It's going to be a long night.”
Norris became champion this year after finishing second in the 2024 drivers championship.
