Formula 1 News: 2025 Abu Dhabi GP Preview – Title Showdown

The Abu Dhabi GP weekend brings the curtain down on the 2025 Formula 1 season, during which the sport traveled the world taking in 24 rounds.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

To date, the Yas Marina circuit has hosted motor racing’s blue riband category 16 times, 13 of them rounding off the year. On four occasions, this Grand Prix has decided the outcome of one or both championship titles, in 2021 the two of them and in 2010, 2014 and 2016, just the Drivers’. This Sunday’s race will decide who takes the 2025 Drivers Championship – Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, or Oscar Piastri.

The season finale is always a special occasion. It doesn’t need to be a high-stakes race: a championship decider, a make-it-or-break-it moment when answers are given, verdicts handed out (even though this one is, as far as our team is concerned), for it to have a special significance. A season finale is special just because it is what it is, the final page in the book that was a long 24-race 2025 season.

The season finale is a moment of elation, the end of a long journey spent side by side, shoulder to shoulder with teammates, rivals, colleagues. It’s also a moment of reflection, to look back at what one has done over the last twelve months, to review, to revisit, to learn: and this, this one has been a long season, born long ago in chilly February with team launches, then onwards in warmer climates with testing and the first race in Bahrain. It’s been a season of highs and lows, a season of steps forward and lessons learned, a season of hard work, fun moments, long hours and sweat, smiles and tears.

The season finale is always a poignant moment: it’s the last day of school, it’s when you look forward to the holidays but with a tinge of melancholy for what has been, and what has gone. It’s a moment to take stock, and a moment to say goodbye to partners and workmates whose path takes a different direction from yours; it is a moment to reflect on the people who shared this journey with you, and went from colleagues, to friends, to family.

F1 Title Showdown: Abu Dhabi GP Sets Stage for Epic Finale

The 2025 Formula 1 season hurtles toward its climax at the Yas Marina Circuit, where a rare three-way Drivers’ Championship battle unfolds. Lando Norris (McLaren) leads with 408 points, holding a slender 12-point edge over Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at 396, while teammate Oscar Piastri lurks just four points further back on 392. McLaren has already clinched the Constructors’ title, but internal rivalry adds intrigue.

Qatar’s drama—Verstappen’s opportunistic win amid McLaren’s pit-stop blunder—thrust the Dutchman back into contention, snapping Norris’s growing dominance. All three boast seven victories apiece, heightening the stakes under Abu Dhabi’s glittering lights.

Norris secures the crown with a podium finish; Verstappen needs a win  and Norris fourth or worse, but if Norris falls out, Verstappen just needs a podium and to beat Piastri ; Piastri demands victory plus chaos ahead. As engines roar on December 7 (race at 11:00am ET on ESPN), expect tactical chess and raw speed to crown the champion in F1’s first multi-driver decider since 2010.

Related Article: Formula 1 News: 2025 Abu Dhabi GP – Countdown to the Grandest Finale

About Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi joined Formula 1’s calendar in 2009 at the Yas Marina Circuit, crafted on the no-expenses-spared Yas Island, around 30 minutes’ drive from downtown.

Next To the Circuit is a huge Theme Park Which Hosts Five Rollercoasters. The Nearby Masdar City, located around 10km from The Circuit, aims to be a Zero-Carbon City.

Abu Dhabi is the largest city of The United Arab Emirates and covers 87 Percent of the total area of the country.

Yas Marina has been the traditional location for Formula 1’s curtain closer, holding finales in 2009/10, and then every season since 2014. It has been the venue for several championship deciders, most famously in 2021, when Max Verstappen was crowned World Champion following a last-lap pass on Lewis Hamilton.

This will be the 17^th consecutive year that the Yas Marina circuit has hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The first edition, in 2009, was won by Sebastian Vettel. The most successful driver in the Emirates is Lewis Hamilton with five wins and the same number of pole positions to his name. This year, Max Verstappen could equal that record as he is on four. His team, Red Bull Racing, has the most wins (7) while Mercedes are just one behind. It was here in Abu Dhabi in 2021, that the German team secured its eighth Constructors’ world title, on the same day that Max Verstappen secured the Drivers’ crown for the first time.

It is a modern, cutting-edge facility, the track is 5.281 kilometres long, and features 16 corners. TIt is a modern, cutting-edge facility, the track is 5.281 kilometres long, and features 16 corners. The drivers know it well as it has long been the venue for the post-season test session. Designed by Hermann Tilke, the track underwent an overhaul four years ago, which slightly reduced its length, while making it faster and more flowing, producing more overtaking opportunities, especially on the 1.2 kilometer-long straight between the slow turns 5 and 6.

Another interesting section is to be found through turns 10, 11 and 12, where drivers have to brake hard, thus generating heavy lateral loads on the car. The track surface is made with aggregate imported from England and provides medium levels of abrasiveness and grip. To iron out some bumpy sections, the surface was redone this year from turn 1 to turn 4.

As at all night races, there will be a significant drop in temperature between the first and last sessions. Track conditions can change according to when the cars are on track and they will also be affected by how much it rubbers in thanks to the support races, including Formula 2.

Last Year’s Race

Polesitter Norris led from lights-to-flag and kept the Ferrari of Sainz Jr. at arms length the entire 58 laps around the Yas Marina Circuit.

Sainz Jr. was over 5.8 seconds at the finish, while his teammate Leclerc was over 31 seconds behind after starting way down in 19th.

It’s Norris’ fourth win of the year, and that 25 point reward was enough for McLaren. Norris is clear though, he’s coming for the drivers’ title next year.

As for Ferrari, a double podium is just reward, they gave it a good go and made it tight, but just came up short.

Lewis Hamilton was 4th for Mercedes in his final race for Mercedes, 36 seconds behind Norris, while his teammate George Russell rounded out the top-5 after being passed by Hamilton on the final lap with better (medium) tires.

Max Verstappen, who made contact with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri in Turn 1 at the start, spun and received at 10-second penalty for his dastardly deed, recovered to finish 6th in his Red Bull, but was never in contention, 50-seconds behind Norris.

2024 Abu Dhabi GP Results – 58 Laps

What to watch for

Overtaking: The re-profiled corners have changed the dynamic of how a race can play out here in terms of overtaking, and these ground-effect cars are set to take that a step further again this year. Eighty percent of all passes take place at the end of the two long DRS zones – the runs down to Turns Six and Nine.

Strategy: Pirelli brings the softest three compounds to the finale. Despite the softness of the tires and the characteristics of the circuit, tire wear has traditionally not been particularly high here. However, wear has increased in 2022, and easier overtaking may promote additional pit-stops in the race. One- and two-stop strategies and common at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The pit loss, at 22 seconds, is slightly higher than the season average.

Superior McLaren car vs Verstappen: The McLaren car is far an away the fastest car.  Verstappen will have to use all his superior driving skills and some luck to secure the title.

Fact File: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• Abu Dhabi made its F1 debut in 2009 as the sport’s first ever twilight race, with the start taking place at sunset. Around 4,700 light fixtures are used to illuminate the track.
• Several modifications were made to the track layout ahead of the 2021 race, changing the lap length from 5.554 km to 5.281 km.
• These changes including removing the chicane at the start of the second sector and widening the following hairpin. The twisty chicanes at the start of the final sector were also replaced by one long, banked corner.
• Like other twilight and night races on the calendar, FP1 and FP3 take place in the daytime. FP2, Qualifying and the Grand Prix itself take place at night or as the sun sets.
• That poses a challenge to the engineers and drivers who must accommodate for the changes in tire and car behavior owing to the differing ambient and track temperatures.
• The pitlane at the Yas Marina Circuit is unique in F1, in that it features a tunnel that runs underneath Turn One. Drivers pass under the track at the pit lane exit, re-joining on the left-hand side of Turn 2.
• Yas Marina has hosted more season-ending F1 races than any other, with 13.
• The circuit has seen four world champions crowned. 2025 will be the 5th. Sebastian Vettel in 2010, Lewis Hamilton in 2014, Nico Rosberg in 2016 and Max Verstappen in 2021.

Unlocking the Lap

The 5.281 km track in the United Arab Emirates has hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as a regular fixture since 2009. The record winner at this event is Lewis Hamilton, who has triumphed on no fewer than five occasions in the UAE.

The track record at the Yas Marina Circuit, which was overhauled and reconfigured in 2021, is 1:22.109 minutes (set by Max Verstappen in 2022), the fastest race lap is 1:26.103 minutes (set by Verstappen in 2022).

The short run to Turn One leads drivers through a medium-speed corner where any understeer will see them missing the apex, compromising the run through the following left-hander and the long right-hander. This is a fast first sector that culminates in a rapid run to the Turn Five hairpin.

The exit from Turn Five is crucial as it sends drivers down the first long straight, which also features a DRS zone. It’s easy for drivers to out brake themselves into the chicane at the end of this straight. Drivers need another strong exit from the chicane as another long straight and DRS zone follows.

The straight and the second sector ends with the wide Turn Nine left-hander. Drivers then accelerate into a tricky complex of right-hand bends that are followed by a hard-braking 90-degree corner in Turn 12, which takes drivers under the hotel in the middle of the circuit. Turns 13 and 14 are simple bends that almost make up one long left-hand hairpin.

The final corners of the circuit, Turns 15 and 16, are perhaps its most challenging: drivers blaze through the first right-hander then brake hard and aim to hit the apex of the final corner to set up for a strong exit down the start-finish straight.

Weather Forecast

Unsurprisingly Abu Dhabi basks in 12 months of glorious sunshine, but it’s when the sun starts to set beyond the horizon that we’re interested in.

Friday, December 5: FP1 & FP2

Saturday, December 6: FP3 & Qualifying

Sunday, December 7: Race

Pirelli Tires

Pirelli is sticking with the usual selection of compounds for the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, namely the C3, C4 and C5. Historically, the Yas Marina track sees graining on the tires, but as from last year this phenomenon seems to be relatively limited and the greater resistance of the current tires could reduce it to such an extent that even the Soft, usually only used in qualifying, could be a tire around which to put together a race strategy. At this track, degradation is thermal in nature and is generally seen on the rears due to the requirement for traction especially in the final sector of the track.

In Yas Marina last year, 19 drivers fitted the Medium for the start, the sole exception being Hamilton who went with the Hard. The one-stop was the quickest strategy, using the Hard for the second stint. Of the top ten finishers, only Alonso pitted twice. Just one driver ran the Soft with the sole aim of setting the fastest race lap. Graining and degradation were both limited and so, even those who pitted before half-distance, managed to run just two stints with no difficulties.

On Tuesday 9 December, the teams will all take part in a group test organised by Pirelli which will run from 09h00 to 18h00. Each team will field one of its race drivers at the wheel of a mule car, specially adapted to simulate the characteristics of next year’s cars, in order to test the 2026 range of tires. Each team will be provided with one set of C2, three each of C3, C4 and C5, as well as a set of Intermediate tires in case of rain. The 2026 C1 and Full Wet will not be available in Yas Marina.

On the same day, each team will also run a “young driver”, defined as a driver who has not raced in more than two Grands Prix, at the wheel of their 2025 car. These drivers will be supplied with 2025 tires – two sets each of the C3 and C5, four sets of the C4 and one set of Intermediates and Full Wets for use in case it rains.

For the test, the 2026 tires will feature updated graphics on the sidewalls that will be used for the whole season, while also maintaining the usual colours to indicate the level of hardness of the tire, although the C2 will not have brackets in Abu Dhabi, in order to distinguish it on track from the C3.

THE TIRES ON TRACK