Andrea Stella: "Today, we celebrate an extraordinary achievement for the entire McLaren Racing family. The main feeling is that we are incredibly proud to take home a maiden 2025 FIA Formula 1 Drivers' Championship for Lando. This is a fantastic end to what has been a hard-fought season, one that has tested and brought out the best in everyone across the team. All the men and women in Woking have responded to the call how we had wished to elevate the game and level of performance following our success last season.
"While only one driver can take the Drivers' Championship title each season, to be in a situation where both Lando and Oscar were challenging at the sharp end against a four-time World Champion in Max Verstappen, was always an ambition and not a problem. The demand of this was huge, but we did it the McLaren way, even when we had our bumps on in the road, everyone stuck to our culture which showed our incredible unity, and I'm so happy that the team have been rewarded with this success.
"Lando and Oscar have been outstanding all year both on and off track, showing the true values of what it means to be a McLaren team member. Together they have secured a combined 14 wins and a total of 34 podiums which also delivered the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Constructors' Championship, our 10th as a team and also our first Championship double since the team's iconic 1998 season.
"None of this would be possible without the unwavering support of our shareholders, partners, people, and fans, as well as our long-standing colleagues at HHP who have contributed to another year of successful collaboration.
"Thank you for being on this journey with us. We'll make sure we celebrate this moment together before getting our heads down and focusing on the upcoming challenge in 2026."
Laurent Mekies: "Firstly, congratulations to Lando and McLaren. They have been superb all year and have been our fiercest competitors this season, so a huge well-done to their whole team. It was so tight this year, and we put up a really great fight right to the end, finishing with a dominant display today. We didn't expect to put in a performance like that around this track, so a big credit to the Team and to Max for getting the car into a position to do exactly that. Starting from pole, we knew the win could be in our hands, and Max was perfect from start to finish, with excellent tyre management to see us through. I'd also like to thank Yuki, who played the team game today, as he did last night, and we thank him for never giving up this season. We simply could not have done anything more. The dominant feeling is one of pride for this sensational turnaround. The effort that every single person in this Team, in the campus and on the race track, has put in is nothing short of incredible. We showed true racing spirit - the Red Bull spirit - right up to the very last lap."
Split strategies for the two Scuderia Ferrari HP drivers, with Charles, starting from P5 on Mediums and Lewis, who qualified 16th and needed to make up ground in the early laps, on Softs. Leclerc had a good start, making up one place to be fourth, while Hamilton was already P13 by lap 3. After battling with Fernando Alonso Charles got close to Lando Norris and tried to attack him. On lap 8 Lewis pitted for Hards and so did Charles on lap 16, to prevent an undercut from George Russell. Second stop for Lewis on lap 31 as his lap times were slowing. He fitted Mediums and overtook several cars. Leclerc had his second stop 8 laps later, also for Mediums. A very good fourth place for Charles at the chequered flag and a great race for Lewis, who came back from 16th place all the way up to eighth.
Fred Vasseur: First of all congratulations to Lando on winning the title. Ever since his days in karting it was obvious that he has a special talent and this title is well deserved and well done also to McLaren for giving him the equipment to get the job done.
Overall, this has not been a bad weekend for us in terms of pure performance, but it came a bit too late following a very tough start on Friday after which the team at the track and back in the factory did a very good job to recover for Saturday, by making very big changes to the cars. However, when you have to recover like this, it's all about fine tuning the details and we weren't able to do that. That affected our qualifying as the field was so close and then today our race pace was good and with Charles we were matching Lando's pace, but in the current F1 where the gaps are so small, if you leave anything on the table you pay the price. Lewis also had a good race with very strong pace, he pulled off some nice overtaking moves and the motivation was there. But across the whole team, if we want better results we must work on having better weekends from the start of practice.
I want to thank everyone in the team at the track and all the people back in Maranello for all their hard work all year and of course thanks also to the Tifosi for their support this season, because even when we were struggling, and we had some very tough weekends, they were always behind us, always supportive and you can't imagine the positive energy this has given us throughout all the year.
George Russell finished P5 with Kimi Antonelli P15 in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Whilst the team were unable to add to their podium or victory tally, P2 in the Constructors' Championship was secured ahead of Red Bull Racing. George ran a standard Medium-Hard one-stop; having started P4 he dropped two positions off the line but battled back ahead of Alonso in the opening stint. From there he ran a lonely P5 to bring the car home and finish P4 in the Drivers' standings. Kimi meanwhile started on the Hard tyre and ran long. He switched to the Medium tyre on lap 32 coming out at the back of the field. He battled from there but came home P15. Congratulations to Lando Norris who was crowned the 2025 Drivers' World Champion after taking P3.
The team now prepares for the end-of-season test on Tuesday that will see Fred Vesti driving in one car, with George and Kimi splitting time in the other. A new generation of F1 opens in 2026 with new Power Unit and chassis regulations set to shake up the sport. The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix therefore marks the end of the current turbo-hybrid era in which Mercedes has powered 140 wins, 150 poles, and 387 podiums from 252 races with 10 Constructors' Championships and eight Drivers' titles also powered by the three-pointed star.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: Congratulations firstly to Lando Norris on winning the World Championship. He is a worthy winner; I am really happy for him and everyone that is close to him. His parents will be quite rightly proud of his achievement, and I am sure they will enjoy it. Congratulations also to Zak (Brown) and Andrea (Stella); they have done a great job at McLaren to secure both titles this year.
Our race can be summed up in one word: mediocre. It was a lonely one for George who wasn't threatened from behind but didn't have the pace of the front four cars. He was managing his tyres to bring the car home on the one-stop, and he did that successfully. For Kimi, he tried his best from a difficult starting position, but we just didn't have the speed in the car to enable him to get back into the points. It is not the way we wanted to end the year, but we can be pleased we secured P2 in the Constructors'. Since the midpoint of the season, that has been our aim. It is not what we as Mercedes ultimately want to be fighting for though and hopefully, we can prove ourselves worthy of being in a world title fight next year.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: That was an underwhelming way to end our season. We came into the race hoping to fight for the podium with George and to help Kimi battle back into a solid points scoring position. Unfortunately, we didn't have the pace today to do that and had to bear a frustrating evening. Both drivers lost places at the start and things didn't improve much from there. George was in no man's land between the top four and the rest of the field. He drove sensibly to bring the car home P5. For Kimi, he needed a good start and a strong car to recover from qualifying and unfortunately did not have either.
We're pleased to have secured second place in the Constructors' Championship in an entertaining, season long battle with Ferrari and Red Bull, we go into the winter very mindful that McLaren won this championship comfortably. We look forward to the immense challenge of the new regulations; we've been working hard on the W17 for a long time and will redouble our efforts across the winter in a bid to get back to winning ways.
Finally, well done to Lando. He drove brilliantly in the final races and is a worthy champion.
Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer: "Firstly, congratulations to McLaren and Lando for a well-deserved end to their season. For us, it was great to complete the final race of 2025 on a positive note, with a double-points finish.
"Fernando drove a great race, finishing in P6 and bringing home eight valuable points for the team. Lance also had an excellent race, managing the Hard tyre well and pulling off a series of decisive overtakes. He climbed six positions before a post-race time penalty dropped him to P10.
"We finish the season P7 in the Constructors' Championship. Thank you to the team trackside and everyone back at the AMR Technology Campus for your hard work and dedication this season. It hasn't always been easy, but we have never stopped pushing.
"As we now look to the 2026 season, I want to also take the time to say thank you to our friends and colleagues at Mercedes AMG HPP for supplying the team's PU over the past 17 years. Thank you for the collaboration that has shaped this chapter in our history.
"Thank you also to our fans for your unwavering support and passion, it means a lot to us all. We now turn all our focus on 2026, with the test in Barcelona next month."
Flavio Briatore: "Today's result probably summarises our season where the car has not been competitive enough. It has been a long and often tough season for everyone at the team. I know everyone is eager and motivated to put this campaign behind us and very much ready to push tirelessly to make the next one more of a success. Congratulations to McLaren and Lando Norris on winning both championships. Their level this year has been extraordinary and they have been the benchmark in Formula One this season. For now, the hard work doesn't stop as we look ahead to a better 2026."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team completed the 2025 Formula 1 season with Esteban Ocon seventh, and Oliver Bearman 12th, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, held Sunday at Yas Marina Circuit.
Ocon took the start from eighth position on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and held ninth place through the opening lap, before pitting on lap 18 for White hard tires. The Frenchman emerged in 16th but worked his way through the yet-to-stop traffic to emerge in seventh position, including passing both Sauber drivers. Ocon maintained seventh through to the checkered flag, holding off seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, to add six points to MoneyGram Haas F1 Team's tally.
Bearman started from 11th place, also on medium tires, and challenged for the top 10 spots across the opening stint, before pitting on lap 14. The Brit took on hard tires and filtered back into the pack, before working his way through into ninth position. Bearman finished in 10th place on-the-road but was issued a five-second time penalty post-race for more than one change of direction, which dropped him to 12th overall.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finishes the 2025 season in eighth place in the Constructors' Championship on 79 points.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "At the start of the day, we aimed to get both cars into the points. We achieved it until Ollie's penalty - which I thought was really harsh, however - that's the rule. To cross the line in P7 and P10 is a really good job from everyone, as we started from P8 and P11. We raced really hard, really well, and there was huge pressure trying to get P7 in the Constructors' Championship, but everyone stayed calm. The pit stops were good, especially the second one, but I knew we'd bounce back - that team has done a great job this year, ending on a high.
"We couldn't quite reach our target of beating Aston Martin today, but those championship positions don't happen over one race, that happens over the course of 24 races. I'm very happy to say we should be proud of ourselves, how we improved this year and scored 79 points. Last year we finished P7 on 58 points, but this year the competition is so much tighter, and in the last seven races, we scored in six of them. It's amazing that we've improved the cars two years in a row and finished the season on a high, it gives us confidence going into next year. I want to say thank you to everyone in this team, you should be proud of yourselves, and this is an achievement from everyone. I'm very happy to be working with this group of people, I couldn't be prouder."
James Vowles, Team Principal: First and foremost, congratulations to Lando on a well-deserved Championship. For us, this marks the end of a really successful 2025. In a couple of days, we'll be testing here in Abu Dhabi in preparation for 2026 and, in just a few weeks' time, the 2026 car will be a reality and I can't wait. This is a good moment to say thank you to everyone that has been behind us for not just this year but for many years. It's the start of our journey and I can't wait for what's next. Thank you very much.
Lando Norris has become the 35th different champion in 75 years of Formula 1 after taking the third place he needed to clinch the drivers' title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with his McLaren team already having wrapped up the constructors' championship in Singapore.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the race from pole, while the other title protagonist, Oscar Piastri, was second. All three drivers adopted different tyre strategies for the 58-lap race, which got underway at 17:00 in daylight and continued for nearly two hours into the night.
Verstappen started on the medium and then switched to the hard on lap 24, whereas Piastri did the opposite by starting on the hard and then moving to the medium on lap 42.
Norris however made two pit stops: starting on the medium and then completing two stints on the hard to reach the finish.
Piastri actually managed to pass his team mate on the opening lap despite being on the harder tyre, but the strategy selected for Norris was enough to guarantee him the final podium place required to clinch the title by two points from Verstappen.
All three compounds were seen on the grid, with some drivers further down the order choosing to start on the soft tyre. Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, celebrating his 250th grand prix, was one of them: making up more places than any other driver - nine - after starting from P18 and finishing ninth with a two-stop strategy.
With no safety cars, retirements, or yellow flags it was a straightforward fight to the finish: with the three drivers who have dominated the season locking out the podium.
Mario Isola: "Congratulations to Lando Norris on winning his first drivers' title. The battle went all the way to the final round of the season - which was one of the most closely-fought of the last few years thanks to the similarly competitive pace of the different teams. Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri certainly didn't hold back today, giving us a thrilling final.
In terms of strategy, the majority of the teams opted for a one-stopper using the most consistent two compounds as we expected: in some cases, stretching the hard tyre stint for more than 40 laps. Even though there was no graining on the hardest compound, there were still inevitably some signs of wear in the final laps.
Among the drivers choosing the alternative strategy, the newly crowned champion Lando Norris stands out. He went for a two-stopper, probably prompted by the extra pit stop for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, using the two fresh sets of hard tyres that McLaren had saved in their build-up to the race.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also used a fresh set of tyres for his final stint, which in this case was the medium. This excellent choice allowed him to make up several places, underlining how close the two strategic options were, as shown by our simulations.
Pirelli's job does not stop here: we will be back on track on Tuesday together with all the teams for a full test day, A total of 10 mule cars piloted by the race drivers will try out the new 2026 tyre range, while 10 young drivers will take to the track with this year's cars and tyres."
