Who will win the 2025 F1 world title in the Abu Dhabi decider? Our writers have their say

Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri all go into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a chance of securing the 2025 Formula 1 world championship.

In a season-long tussle that has swung between each of the three protagonists, it comes down to the season finale, with Norris leading Verstappen by 12 points and Piastri 16 points off his McLaren team-mate in third.

So, for the final time this year, who will win the F1 title? Our writers have their say.

It’d take too much of a blunder from Norris to not win – Ed Hardy

The difference in quality between Verstappen and Norris or Piastri in the 2025 Formula 1 season has been staggering. Verstappen has maximised his car throughout – as any F1 great would – and should he not become champion, then it’s fair to say that it won’t be because of him. The McLaren pair, meanwhile, have just stumbled towards the line and quite frankly should already have this title sewn up.

So no, Verstappen wasn’t “talking nonsense”, to directly quote Norris, when he said he’d already be a five-time champion had his car been like McLaren’s at the Melbourne opener. That being said, it is still a pretty significant deficit that Verstappen holds with just one race remaining and surely Norris, or his team, can’t keep presenting the Red Bull driver with opportunities.

It has to stop at some point.

Yas Marina is also a circuit that should suit McLaren with its medium-to-high-speed corners and that was witnessed last year when Norris dominated from pole. So it wouldn’t be a total surprise if the Briton was to repeat that, because he can still perform when the pressure is on – Mexico – it’s just that his and McLaren’s low moments have inevitably been heightened due to the wider context.

But even if Norris doesn’t win in Abu Dhabi it isn’t the end of the world, as a podium finish would suffice should Verstappen take the chequered flag. He therefore has enough of a buffer to get over the line.

A blunder is all Piastri needs – Owen Bellwood

After 23 grands prix and six sprint races, just 16 points separate the top three in the Formula 1 standings. With this in mind, the chances of title leader Norris not following through and winning the whole thing feels pretty slim. But while the Yas Marina circuit has often turned up processional races during its time on the F1 calendar, it has produced its fair share of drama when the stakes are high.

And what would you say is more likely over an F1 weekend: that Norris will put together a flawless grand prix, or that Verstappen will inject his own form of chaos into proceedings as he chases a fifth consecutive F1 title? Personally, I think it’s the latter.

Norris will be on the defensive off the line come Sunday, and no matter where he lines up Verstappen will be pretty close by. Should the Dutchman make one of his signature bold moves at Turn 1, there’s a good chance that contact – or at least a decisive penalty – will follow. A puncture, broken wing or a spin could force either driver to the back of the pack. Or, should the protagonists come together in the heat of battle, both racers could be out of the fight before it’s even reached its peak.

If chaos like this unfolds, there’s one driver who will be there to pick up all the pieces: Piastri. If the top two come together and Piastri wins, he will be hoping that Norris can’t recover past sixth in order to take the title – which could be a realistic result given the challenges of overtaking on the tight track in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen will complete the turnaround and add to his legend – Jake Boxall-Legge

At the start of the season, I wrote in Autosport magazine that Verstappen would win the 2025 title – and I stand behind my earlier prediction.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

We all know how we got here; Verstappen’s deficit to Piastri spanned a triple-figure sum after the climax of Zandvoort, and since then he’s been on a completely different plane compared to anyone else on the grid. This has been helped by Red Bull’s post-summer improvement, of which Verstappen reflected that “you try a lot of things, and a lot of things didn’t work. But then I would say since Zandvoort, we found a bit of a direction”.

In that same thought, Verstappen reckoned that Abu Dhabi might not necessarily be up Red Bull’s alley in the same vein as Qatar, but Verstappen ultimately won at the Losail venue as McLaren threw its own chances of victory away. But Verstappen likes to play down expectations and, unless Red Bull encounters set-up problems of the same magnitude as it had in Brazil, he should be able to cope.

The other aspect to consider is that Red Bull only has to worry about his strategy, and can spend its entire weekend working out how to deliver a fifth consecutive drivers’ crown. McLaren, meanwhile, risks painting itself into a corner with its commitment to fairness between both drivers; that’s not a criticism of the way it chooses to go racing, but invariably there will be a point in the race that the team needs to make a decision between its two drivers.

And Verstappen, who feeds off causing problems for other teams and drivers, can operate at his best in these conditions. If he leaves Abu Dhabi with a title in hand, it might just be the best of his career.

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– The Autosport.com Team