F1 Abu Dhabi GP 2025 qualifying live: Norris, Verstappen and Piastri battle for pole in title decider – UK Times

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:

“If they’re in the position that Max is on course to win, and Oscar can allow Lando… I wouldn’t want to win a championship because my teammate has pulled over, especially if he’s been my rival that year.

“When it’s clearly someone who’s been a number two all season, I think that’s fine. I don’t think it’s right at this stage to do any team orders; you’ve just got to accept fate.”

Asked what he’d do if put in Piastri’s potentially difficult position, Russell joked: “It’s easier to unplug the radio!”

1. McLaren – 800 points (champions)

6. Racing Bulls – 92 points

7. Aston Martin – 80 points

For all the smugness radiating off the face of Max Verstappen and, by the same token, the fumes of red mist emitting from furious McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, perhaps the first words should go to the true winner of the Qatar Grand Prix: Red Bull’s cool-headed strategy chief, Hannah Schmitz.

For it was Schmitz, the 40-year-old Cambridge-educated engineer, who made the critical call amid yellow flags and muddled thinking on Sunday night. On lap seven, a crash and a safety car created a door of opportunity. Red Bull, and every other team on the grid for that matter, walked straight through. McLaren, however, turned a blind eye.

The papaya-clad team, who wrapped up the constructors’ title in October, have opted against prioritising either Norris or Piastri throughout the season. However, in a change of approach, Brown has now acknowledged that McLaren will intervene in Sunday’s race in order to seal the drivers’ title.

1. George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:23.334

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.004

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.124

4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.251

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.259

6. Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.271

7. Oliver Bearman (Haas) +0.275

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.341

9. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.373

10. Alex Albon (Williams) +0.388

Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is at 2pm (GMT).

And that, ladies and gents, is practice done for 2025.

George Russell has snatched a perfect weekend from Lando Norris, taking top spot with a 1:23:334 – just 0.004 seconds ahead of the championship leader!

Max Verstappen is in third, a tenth off, with Oscar Piastri in fourth. All the title contenders are there or thereabouts.

5-10: Ocon, Bearman, Leclerc, Antonelli, Albon

“The problem is that the car still jumps, like it just…I can’t keep my feet on the pedals.”

Russell goes top, just 0.004 secs ahead of Norris!

Verstappen now P3, a tenth off. Boy is it tight.

Final laps coming in now…