Return of Norris's 'worst nightmare' complicates F1 title showdown The surprise presence of one of Lando Norris’s biggest bugbears has thrown a curveball into Formula 1’s 2025 title showdown in Abu Dhabi.After a season where Pirelli’s improved construction for 2025 has mitigated the risks of tyre graining at other venues, F1 teams have been taken aback by its unexpected recurrence at the Yas Marina circuit.Analysis after Friday’s opening day of action showed that... Read more:

The Race

Return of Norris's 'worst nightmare' complicates F1 title showdown

The surprise presence of one of Lando Norris’s biggest bugbears has thrown a curveball into F1’s 2025 title showdown in Abu Dhabi

Seven F1 eras ending at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix doesn’t just mark the end of a Formula 1 season but several significant partnerships too. From one of the championship’s most successful engine manufacturers to the last race for one of F1’s greatest underdogs - here are seven eras ending this weekend, our thoughts on how successful they were and what kind of high (or low) they’ll likely end on. Yuki Tsunoda + F1 (202... Read more:

The Race

Seven F1 eras ending at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

F1 careers, very long partnerships and a contentious part of the regulations all come to an end in Abu Dhabi this weekend

Mark Hughes: Verstappen's closer to McLarens than you think Max Verstappen is steadily pushing his Red Bull into contention at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.Although his second-quickest time to Lando Norris's McLaren was around 0.35s adrift, his long run was over 60% longer than that of the McLaren driver's and the 0.43s difference in their race run averages on the medium tyre is almost accounted for by the difference in run length.Furthermore, that includes a ... Read more:

The Race

Mark Hughes: Verstappen's closer to McLarens than you think

Yes, McLaren has the early advantage in Abu Dhabi, but Max Verstappen is pushing his Red Bull into contention. Mark Hughes explains the Friday pict...

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 F1 practice results Lando Norris again headed Max Verstappen in second practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix while the third 2025 Formula 1 title contender, Oscar Piastri, was restricted to 11th.FP2 times1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m23.083s2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.363s3 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.379s4 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.418s5 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) +0.467s6 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +0.487s7 Isack Hadja... Read more:

The Race

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 F1 practice results

Mercedes' George Russell upstaged the 2025 Formula 1 championship rivals in final practice for the decisive Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

McLaren defends team orders stance for F1 title showdown McLaren has defended its decision to allow team orders to be applied in Formula 1's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if one of its drivers finds themselves out of title contention.While McLaren has made a concerted effort to treat its drivers equally this year, The Race revealed on Thursday that the team's stance would be changing for this weekend's season finale.Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will go in... Read more:

The Race

McLaren: Giving team order to win F1 title is ‘common sense’

McLaren has defended its decision to allow team orders to be applied in F1's Abu Dhabi GP if one of its drivers finds themselves out of title conte...

Everything that happened in Abu Dhabi FP2 as Norris heads Verstappen Lando Norris topped FP2 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as McLaren team-mate and fellow 2025 Formula 1 title contender Oscar Piastri's first session of the weekend did not go to plan.Piastri had handed his car to IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward for FP1, meaning FP2 was his first time in the car and it showed. He ended the session 11th thanks to a massive lock-up at Turn 6 on his final flying lap before swi... Read more:

The Race

Everything that happened in Abu Dhabi FP2 as Norris heads Verstappen

Lando Norris topped FP2 at the Abu Dhabi GP as McLaren team-mate and fellow 2025 F1 title contender Oscar Piastri's first session of the weekend di...

What’s really going on with wildest Piastri and Norris claims in Abu Dhabi The noise around McLaren team-mates and Formula 1 title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has been greatly amplified ahead of this weekend’s championship showdown in Abu Dhabi.Norris is in the best position to win the F1 title for the first time as he holds a 12-point lead over Red Bull driver Max Verstappen while Piastri is four points further back.All three appeared together in an FIA pr... Read more:

The Race

What's really going on with wildest Piastri and Norris claims in Abu Dhabi

The noise around McLaren team-mates and F1 title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has been greatly amplified ahead of the championship sho...

Norris leads Verstappen by 0.008s as Piastri sits out Abu Dhabi FP1 Lando Norris pipped main 2025 Formula 1 title rival Max Verstappen to top spot in first practice for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.The two, separated by just 12 points in the drivers' championship, were split by just 0.008s in an FP1 session that the third title protagonist, Oscar Piastri, sat out - handing his car over to Pato O'Ward in one of nine 'rookie' changes at the Yas Marina circ... Read more:

The Race

Norris leads Verstappen by 0.008s as Piastri sits out Abu Dhabi FP1

Lando Norris pipped main 2025 F1 title rival Max Verstappen to top spot in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP1

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 F1 practice results Lando Norris topped first practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, just 0.008 seconds clear of Max Verstappen, as their F1 title showdown rival Oscar Piastri was one of nine drivers to sit out the final FP1 of 2025 to let rookies drive.FP1 results1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m24.485s2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.008s3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.016s4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.123s5 Nico Hulkenber... Read more:

The Race

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 F1 practice results

Mercedes' George Russell upstaged the 2025 Formula 1 championship rivals in final practice for the decisive Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Ferrari underestimated the cost of its big 2025 F1 sacrifice Ferrari's disappointing 2025 Formula 1 season has been tough to stomach for all involved - but even the one potential positive from it has had a negative psychological impact that the team didn't fully anticipate.It's easy to forget, given that Ferrari not winning races has become commonplace, but the start of this season was a proper suckerpunch to Ferrari's lofty pre-season expectations, set off... Read more:

The Race

Ferrari underestimated the cost of its big 2025 F1 sacrifice

Ferrari's disappointing 2025 Formula 1 season has been tough to stomach for all involved - but even the one potential positive from it has had a ne...

Seven things we've learned from first day of F1's Abu Dhabi GP Formula 1's first title-deciding season finale in four years kicked off with a day of media ahead of the main event. Here are our main takeaways from Thursday...Antonelli reveals Verstappen message after online abuseKimi Antonelli said the barrage of abuse in the aftermath of him falling behind Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix was "not easy to get" - but appreciated Red Bull's and Max Verstapp... Read more:

The Race

Seven things we've learned from first day of F1's Abu Dhabi GP

What we've already learned from the first day of the first Formula 1 title-deciding season finale in four years

Tsunoda: Only Red Bull regret is giving up a 'f***ing good' car Yuki Tsunoda says the only regret he has in moving to Red Bull this season was missing out on a “f***king good car” at Racing Bulls.The Japanese replaced Liam Lawson at Red Bull from this year’s Japanese Grand Prix with high hopes of getting close to team-mate Max Verstappen and bolstering the squad’s constructors’ championship hopes.However, he endured a frustrating campaign where, despite making... Read more:

The Race

Tsunoda: Only Red Bull regret is giving up 'f***ing good' Racing Bulls

Yuki Tsunoda still feels moving up to Red Bull was the right thing - but regrets missing out on a season in a much improved Racing Bulls car

What we took from F1's title contender grilling The FIA brought out the big guns for the final Thursday press conference of 2025 with Formula 1 title protagonists Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri brought together for a media grilling - sat next to the championship trophy they will fight for on Sunday.None could be said to look thrilled to be there. But a ‘get in, get it over with, get out’ philosophy is fairly common among drivers... Read more:

The Race

What we took from F1's title contender grilling

The FIA brought Formula 1 title protagonists Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri together for a media grilling - here's what we learned

Hadjar's Verstappen 2026 admission is the perfect approach Isack Hadjar will need more than just the right attitude to succeed where his five predecessors failed, in being a fully competitive team-mate and adversary to Max Verstappen within Red Bull's main Formula 1 team.But a keen awareness of the scope of the challenge he will face as a sophomore F1 driver against "the best driver in the world" - and the willingness to publicly express this awareness wi... Read more:

The Race

What's so impressive about Hadjar's Verstappen 2026 admission

Isack Hadjar expects to be slower than Max Verstappen at the start of F1 2026...

'Not fair’ - Russell criticises McLaren’s Abu Dhabi team order stance George Russell believes McLaren’s Abu Dhabi team order stance isn’t “acceptable or reasonable”, as Oscar Piastri could be moved aside to help Lando Norris’s title bid.McLaren has resisted favouring one of its drivers despite Max Verstappen’s ever-threatening title challenge, and it won’t explicitly favour Norris for Abu Dhabi despite his 16-point advantage over Piastri, with Verstappen between the... Read more:

The Race

'Not fair' - Russell criticises McLaren's Abu Dhabi team order stance

George Russell believes McLaren’s Abu Dhabi team order stance isn’t “acceptable or reasonable”, as Oscar Piastri could be moved aside to he...

FIA election to go ahead despite fresh court hearing A French court has ruled that the FIA presidential vote is clear to go ahead later this month, but judges will hear allegations of potential irregularities surrounding the election system early next year. Candidate Laura Villars had been granted an emergency hearing in the Paris Judicial Court to hear complaints that the process to elect the next president was unfair, as rivals to Mohammed Ben Sul... Read more:

The Race

FIA election to go ahead despite fresh court hearing

A French court has ruled that the FIA presidential vote is clear to go ahead later this month, but judges will hear allegations of potential irregu...

McLaren opens the door to Abu Dhabi team orders McLaren’s determination that team orders are off the table heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix does not mean there are not scenarios where it could ask one of its drivers to help the other win the title. With both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris still in contention for the title, McLaren made clear after last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix that it would leave both drivers free to race for themselves ... Read more:

The Race

McLaren opens the door to Abu Dhabi team orders

McLaren is open to using team orders if Piastri falls out of realistic contention during F1's Abu Dhabi title decider

Bigger Toyota deal prompts Haas rebrand for F1 2026 The Haas Formula 1 team will rebrand slightly for 2026 to mark an expanded partnership with Toyota.Haas and Toyota began a technical partnership in October last year, which kicked off the team working closely with Toyota’s motorsport arm Toyota Gazoo Racing.This deal has facilitated a first ever private testing programme for Haas and is leading to the installation of its first in-house driver-in-l... Read more:

The Race

Bigger Toyota deal prompts Haas rebrand for F1 2026

Haas's partnership with Toyota will step up another level in 2026

The clues for how F1’s three-way title showdown will go When it comes to sports stars delivering on big occasions, there is no bigger confidence boost than knowing that what you need to produce is exactly what you have done plenty of times before. So when it comes to working out who holds the best hand for this weekend’s Formula 1 title decider in Abu Dhabi, one of the best indicators is what we have already seen this season. If a driver’s hope rests o... Read more:

The Race

The clues for how F1’s three-way title showdown will go

A look at 2025 so far (and prior three-way title fights) can give us *some* clues to how the Abu Dhabi decider will play out

The lost points that prove Verstappen's brutal McLaren claim right When Max Verstappen said a week ago that he was only in Formula 1 title contention because of McLaren's "failures", he probably did not expect one of its biggest blunders yet to open the door even more going into the season finale. Yet that is exactly what occurred in Qatar, where McLaren cost Oscar Piastri what would have been a comfortable race win. McLaren driver Lando Norris still holds a 12-p... Read more:

The Race

The lost points that prove Verstappen's brutal McLaren claim right

Max Verstappen's comments shine a harsh light on McLaren's wastefulness in 2025