Oscar Piastri’s title dreams crushed as Lando Norris wins Formula One world championship

Oscar Piastri overtook his teammate early and drove a brilliant race but it wasn’t enough for the Australia star as Lando Norris clinched the F1 title. See how the McLaren teammates reacted.

Oscar Piastri’s dream of winning the Formula One world championship will have to wait for at least another year.

The Australian drove a brilliant race under intense pressure to finish second in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix overnight but that wasn’t enough for him to claim the drivers’ title.

The most coveted trophy in motorsport was instead presented to Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who crossed the line third to earn just enough points to stay in front of Max Verstappen, who won the race for Red Bull.

Starting the final race with a 12-point cushion, Norris held on to win his first championship by just two points from Verstappen 423 to 421, while Piastri finished third, a further 11 points adrift on 410.

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Oscar Piastri (left) and Lando Norris celebrate on the podium after the Abu Dhabi Grand. Picture: AFP

The Australian can consider himself unlucky not to have won the championship after he led for two-thirds of the season before a series of mishaps went against him but only seems a matter of time before he wins the title.

“It’s only my third attempt at this in F1,” Piastri said.

“Hopefully, I’ve got plenty more to go. There’s definitely lessons from this year that will only make me stronger.”

At just 24, Piastri has plenty of time on his side. He clearly has the ability - winning seven Grands Prix and finishing on the podium 16 times in 2025 - but just needs a bit of luck to go his way.

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Lando Norris celebrates on his car after winning the Formula One world championship. Picture: Getty Images

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He didn’t get much of that this season. He finished 13 points behind Norris in the final standings but lost a lot more during the season. Sixteen points went begging when he slid in the rain at the season opener in Australia. He lost out of 14 points to Norris when stewards gave him a questionable 10-point penalty at the British Grand Prix, and 12 when he was disqualified from the Las Vegas because of a technical issue that was measured at a fraction of a millimetre.

But Piastri did not look for excusing, saying instead that Norris “is a very deserving winner.

“I know that every weekend I go on track, it’s going to be tough. And I think we’ve pushed each other through the last three years. I think especially this season has been tighter than ever.

“We have had our ups and downs at different moments. Ultimately, I think he’s had a good season and a deserving champion.”

Oscar Piastri has a bright future in Formula One. Picture: Getty Images

Piastri did everything he could to win the final race.

After starting third on the grid, he quickly got passed Norris to reach second then led when Verstappen pitted.

Because he started on hard tyres, he was able to do a much longer first stint before switching to mediums for the run home, but he couldn’t catch Verstappen a second time,

“There wasn’t anything left out there,” Piastri said.

“Obviously, we tried a bit of a gamble on the strategy to give ourselves some different options and hope that the stars aligned to give ourselves the best chance. But ultimately, in the end, that didn’t happen.”

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown was full of praise for Piastri’s performances in 2025, saying: “He is a future world champion. Both of our guys won seven races, drove brilliantly, supported each other. It’s a cruel sport, things sometimes go your way, sometimes don’t.”

Norris was in tears after winning his first title.

He got beaten to the first corner by Verstappen then was overtaken by Piastri on the opening lap but never panicked, despite getting caught in heavy traffic after the first of his two pit stops.

“It’s incredible. It is pretty surreal,” Norris said. ”I’ve dreamed of this for a long, long time. Everyone does.

“A lot goes into a season like this, a lot of ups, a lot of downs. But none of that matters as long as you try and come out on top, and that’s what we have managed to do.

“I want to congratulate Max and Oscar, my two biggest competitors the whole season. It’s been a pleasure to race against both of them and an honour, I’ve learned a lot from both of them as well.

“One of the things that makes me most proud is I feel like I’ve just managed to win it the way I wanted to win it, which was not by being someone I’m not - like trying to be as aggressive as Max, or as forceful as all the champions might have been in the past, whatever it may be.

“I’m happy. I just won it my way. I’m happy I could go out and be myself and win it ‘Lando’s way’.”

Lando Norris celebrates winning his first F1 world championship. Picture: AP

Already a four-time champion, Verstappen was gracious in defeat. The Dutchman was more than 100 points off the lead with eight rounds but stormed home to almost win it again.

“I have no regrets of my season, I think the performance has been strong,” he said.

“I’ve hated this car at times but I’ve also loved it at times and I always try to extract the most of it even in the difficult weekends that we have had.

“It’s been a proper roller coaster with the car but luckily the last eight, nine rounds in general have been a lot more enjoyable.

“We have a great atmosphere at the moment, we’re really on a roll, positive energy, belief, confidence and that’s exactly what you want also heading into next year.

“It’s always nicer to win it. But honestly, I’m sitting here now with probably a better feeling than what I had last year at this time because the second half of last year was pretty tricky at times as well.

“Shame to miss out on the title, but at the same time, for a long period of time, I was not even thinking about the title. I never felt like I was in it until a few rounds ago, so that’s pretty crazy.”

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Originally published as Oscar Piastri’s title dreams crushed as Lando Norris wins Formula One world championship