- F1
The F1 2025 season reaches a thrilling finale in Abu Dhabi, and our correspondent Kieran Jackson picks through the good, bad and ugly of an entertaining and dramatic year on track
Kieran JacksonIn Abu DhabiWednesday 03 December 2025 10:05 GMTComments
CloseMax Verstappen takes F1 title race to Abu Dhabi after Qatar GP win: 'Anything is possible'
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The F1 drivers’ championship comes down to the final race in Abu Dhabi this weekend with Lando Norris primed for a maiden title and hoping to fend off Red Bull’s four-time champion Max Verstappen and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
While the drama has been at the front of the grid, the woeful year for Ferrari, and in particular Lewis Hamilton, has been a painful storyline for fans of the seven-time world champion and the Scuderia.
The reshuffle for the grid in 2026 is now set, too, with Isack Hadjar’s rise at Red Bull and a debut campaign awaiting British teenager Arvid Lindblad.
While 2026 also signals the return of Adrian Newey as the new Team Principal at Aston Martin F1, taking over from Andy Cowell.
Here’s how everything went down in 2025 with Independent Sport’s picks:
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Best driver: Max Verstappen
The fact he is still in contention heading into the final race speaks volumes. The Dutchman has the joint-most wins on the grid - seven, alongside Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri - in the third-quickest car on the grid. It is quite the feat that he is within 12 points of the lead heading into this weekend’s season-finale.
Japan, Imola and Austin were Verstappen’s best wins, in a year where his pedigree has shot up skywards. Turns out, folks, it’s not just about the car. A fifth consecutive championship would put him up amongst the greats of the sport.
Podium places: George Russell, Isack Hadjar
open image in galleryMax Verstappen has cut Lando Norris’ lead down in the final weeks of the season (Getty)Best team: McLaren
Despite their recent issues, it shouldn’t be forgotten how far clear McLaren have been for the majority of this season.
The papaya-clad team secured the constructors’ championship with six races remaining and are still 341 points clear of second-placed Mercedes. Where Ferrari – who only missed out on last year’s team’s title by 14 points – made no progress at all, McLaren’s car came on leaps and bounds, giving both their drivers the machinery to challenge for a maiden title.
Podium places: Williams, Sauber
open image in galleryOscar Piastri and Lando Norris have enjoyed a fine season with McLaren (PA Wire)Worst team/driver – Alpine/Franco Colapinto
Colapinto remains the only driver without a point this season, amid a campaign where the playing field has narrowed and in which his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly has scored all 22 of the team’s points. Even more startling, then, that the Argentine retained his seat for 2026, in spite of showing no improvement from the unfortunate Jack Doohan, axed after six races.
Ditching their power unit programme next year and taking on Mercedes engines, Flavio Briatore has some job on to revitalise a team who, 20 years ago, were top of the pile as Renault and Fernando Alonso as world champion.
Podium places: Yuki Tsunoda, Lewis Hamilton
Biggest disappointment: Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
No-brainer. F1’s biggest move of all time has gone cataclysmically worse than anyone could have predicted: never mind a title challenge or simply a race victory, the seven-time world champion hasn’t even been able to register a grand prix podium.
Ferrari have not delivered with the car, that’s for sure. Yet Charles Leclerc’s seven podiums show how the Monegasque has squeezed the best results possible out of a dire situation in a way Hamilton, so peculiarly, has not.
Just two points ahead, the 40-year-old also looks set to suffer the ignominy of surrendering sixth in the championship to Kimi Antonelli, the teenager who replaced him at Mercedes. It’s also notable that Carlos Sainz, whom he replaced at Ferrari, has picked up two top-three finishes at Williams.
But should Hamilton rip up his contract and retire? Absolutely not. These excruciating last few weeks are no way to conclude a historic F1 career. With any luck, Ferrari will listen to Hamilton’s know-how and experience as opposed to shutting him out. The Brit and Leclerc - whose prime years are being wasted right now - deserve better in 2026. Whether they’ll get any improvement is another question altogether.
Podium places: Liam Lawson at Red Bull; Franco Colapinto at Alpine
open image in galleryLewis Hamilton has described his first year at Ferrari as a “nightmare” (PA Wire)Best overtake: Max Verstappen, Imola
Present on-site for this one, the gasps in the media centre said it all.
Verstappen sprang from third to first with a mesmeric pass, threading his car through the eye of a needle at Tamburello and startling Oscar Piastri out in front. It was a race-winning overtake.
Podium places: Ollie Bearman on Verstappen, Mexico; Lewis Hamilton on Liam Lawson, Austria
Best race: Australian Grand Prix
Plenty of contenders here, with Silverstone unfortunate to miss out, but the rain in Melbourne on season-opening weekend ruffled a fair few feathers.
We had crashes on the formation lap, changes in the race lead and drama at the end, with home hero Piastri sliding off track. It was one of Norris’s best wins, setting him up for the season ahead.
Aside from that, with nearly half-a-million fans in attendance, Albert Park reclaimed its rightful place as the top-billing season-opening venue; a title it thankfully keeps from Bahrain for 2026.
Podium places: British Grand Prix, Canadian Grand Prix
Worst race: Monaco Grand Prix.
Farcical stuff. The enforced two-stop regulation was designed to improve the typically dull principality spectacle. And good on the FIA for trying something different.
However, the strategists were two steps ahead. Racing Bulls and Williams split their drivers up, got one to hold up the pack and allow the other to pit and keep position. Ingenious, back to the drawing board for the rule-makers.
Essentially, nothing will change in Monaco until they can change the track. Tricky but despite what some people say, not impossible.
Podium places: Qatar Grand Prix, Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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