A new home for Lewis Hamilton and can anyone stop Max Verstappen: everything you need to know about the 2025 F1 season
After one of the most intriguing offseasons in recent memory, Formula 1 racing is back.
www.cnn.comHere’s the latest you’ll likely want to know about the 2025 Formula One World Championship.
Short answer
- The 2025 F1 season concluded with McLaren’s Lando Norris winning the Drivers’ Championship at the Abu Dhabi finale, ending Max Verstappen’s four-year title run. Norris edged Oscar Piastri in the final standings after a dramatic season, marking McLaren’s first Drivers’ Championship since 2008. Norris also helped McLaren secure the Constructors’ Championship, their first since 1998. [sources][5]
Key highlights
- Championship outcome: Lando Norris claimed the Drivers’ title in the final race, delivering McLaren its first Drivers’ Championship in 17 years and continuing the team’s resurgence in the hybrid era.[7]
- Verstappen’s season: Despite a strong run and multiple poles, Verstappen did not clinch a fifth consecutive world title, with Norris overtaking late in the season.[7]
- McLaren’s season: McLaren secured both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, underscoring a dominant year for the team.[5][7]
- Regulation and calendar context: The 2025 season maintained a 24-race calendar with six Sprints, and continued the trend of calendar geography and sprint formats introduced in prior years. There were notable regulation tweaks affecting practice, testing, and sprint rules.[3][8][5]
Notable races and turning points
- Final stretch: Norris’s consistency in the closing races, coupled with strong performances from Piastri, shifted the championship momentum away from Verstappen in the latter part of the season.[7]
- Sprint weekends: The season featured six sprint weekends, including in Shanghai, Miami, Spa, Austin, Sao Paulo, and Qatar, impacting race strategy and points outcomes.[5]
What this means going forward
- The championship picture tightens around McLaren as a title-contender program, with Norris aligning peak form with a robust team package for 2026. Verstappen’s ongoing challenge will be to reclaim the momentum, while drivers like Piastri and other top teams will aim to narrow the gap.[5][7]
Illustration
- Example takeaway: A season-long battle between Norris and Verstappen with multiple race wins and podiums, culminating in Norris clinching the title at the finale, illustrates how a cohesive team strategy and driver synergy can turn a championship in the final events.[7]
Would you like a concise table summarizing the final standings (drivers and constructors) and a chart of the key race results across the season? I can prepare a small CSV and a PNG chart for quick reference.[7]