Charles Leclerc sets DHL Fastest Lap but still falls short of podium

The season finale in Abu Dhabi was the culmination of a long and tense world championship battle. Three drivers went into the race at the Yas Marina Circuit with a chance of winning the title. In the end, though, only one of them could claim the crown, and that was Lando Norris! The McLaren driver trailed the other two across the finish line in third place but was still the big winner of the evening. By a two-point margin, he had held back the late campaign surge by Max Verstappen to clinch the title. Norris becomes the 35th Formula 1 world champion and the first McLaren title holder since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

But his first ever championship winner's trophy was a hard-fought affair. Starting from second on the grid, his chances had initially looked good, but he was then overtaken by teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri on lap one. This put Norris in the sights of Charles Leclerc, who wanted to end the year with a top three finish after a disappointing season with Ferrari. Leclerc put the championship leader under a lot of pressure at the start, but the Englishman showed nerves of steel. Both had started on medium tires and switched to the hard compound at the same time on lap 16.

On lap 39, Ferrari brought Leclerc back into the pits for new medium tires. In his pursuit of Norris and the podium, Leclerc clocked the fastest time of the race on lap 45. He rounded the 5.28km Yas Marina Circuit in 1:26.725 minutes, claiming the final DHL Fastest Lap of the 2025 F1 season.

But it wasn't enough to catch Norris. The McLaren man had reacted to Leclerc's pit stop and was able to maintain the gap with a fresh set of hard tires. Leclerc finished the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in fourth place: "During the season, you keep your head high and try not to let the disappointment get to you. But now, after everything is finished, I just want to rest. I want to have two weeks off and forget about this very disappointing season."