Author Archives: Graham Prix

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Verstappen wins in Abu Dhabi but Norris earns first F1 Championship by two points after coming home P3; Piastri finishes second in epic season for McLaren

The 2025 Forula 1 season came to a nail-bitingly tense close in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came just two points shy of securing his fifth consecutive title despite winning at Yas Marina Circuit and McLaren’s Lando Norris completed a dream season for him and the team by earning his first Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship with a steady but by no means drama-free third place finish. With Verstappen starting from the pole and Norris lined up alongside him to begin the 58-lap season finale, Norris was immediately put on the back foot by his teammate Oscar Piastri, who started third and on the Hard Pirrelli tires, the only driver in the top ten to do so, but easily passed Norris on the opening lap to nab P2 and drop Norris into the clutches of the very rapid Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. But, as Verstappen and Piastri sailed away, Norris was able to fend off Leclerc’s best efforts and maintain his crucial third-place spot until his first pit stop for fresh tires on Lap 17. Norris then doffed his opening set of Medium tires and bolted on his own Hard Pirellis to try to run a long second stint, perhaps even to the end. Leclerc came in on the same lap and made the same tire switch and then both came out P9 and P10 respectively behind a lot of midfield runners. Norris quickly and decisively set about making a series of overtakes to get him back up into the crucial podium position he would need need to guarantee his World Championship even should Verstappen go on to win the race, as now seemed the probable outcome.

After whipping his way back up to P4 by lap 23, Norris was confronted by the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who was told in no uncertain terms by his race engineer to make like difficult for the McLaren man in an effort to boost Verstappen’s chances at snatching the title. But Tsunoda took things a bit too far on Lap 23  by weaving across the track heading into the high speed Turn 6/7 complex and then forcing Norris into the tight runoff area on the straight and off of the track itself before the championship aspirant could finalize his committed pass for P3. Ominously for both drivers, the Stewards announced an investigation of both Tsunoda for forcing Norris off and Norris for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The authorities quickly decided that only Tsunoda would be penalized, with Norris only judged to have been taking evasive action despite having all four wheels off track. That was really the crucial moment, as not only did Norris escape a penalty that may or may not  have been significant to his overall result but, more importantly, he didn’t damage his car despite Tsunoda’s shenanigans.

Meanwhile, Verstappen decided to pit from the lead on Lap 24, making the move from Mediums to Hards, while Piastri kept running his Hards after inheriting the lead. For a fleeting few laps, Piastri had a pit stop’s advantage on Verstappen of over the 21-second delta here at Yas Marina, but the team chose not to take the risk in order to insure Piastri was in play to aid Norris in the closing stanza, if needed. Verstappen steadily chipped away at Piastri’s advantage and then overtook the young Aussie to regain the race lead on Lap 41. Piastri dove into the pits for his first stop a lap later, making the contrarian Hard-to-Medium switch to finish out the race. He still had enough of a lead over his teammate to come out in P2, well ahead of Norris, and well over 22-seconds adrift of Verstappen. Red Bull also declined to roll the dice and pit Verstappen a second time for fresh rubber, instead hoping against hope that Leclerc, who had forced Norris to make a second stop on Lap 41 for fresh Hard after the Monegasque had tried a two-stop undercut on Lap 40,  might pull off a late overtake on Norris due to that Scuderia strategy call. But the Ferrari faded down the stretch and, while Verstappen claimed victory when the checkers flew and Piastri maintained his second place, it was Norris who claimed his first F1 crown and snapped Verstappen’s Championship streak at four by a scant two points.

Top 10 finishers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL KM/H PITS POINTS
1 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 58

–

 1 25
2 O. Piastri McLaren 81 58

+12.594

12.594

 12.594 1 18
3 L. Norris McLaren 4 58

+16.572

16.572

 3.978 2 15
4 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 58

+23.279

23.279

 6.707 2 12
5 G. Russell Mercedes 63 58

+48.563

48.563

 25.284 1 10
6 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 58

+1’07.562

1’07.562

 18.999 1 8
7 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 58

+1’09.876

1’09.876

 2.314 1 6
8 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 58

+1’12.670

1’12.670

 2.794 2 4
9 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 58

+1’14.523

1’14.523

 1.853 1 2
10 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 58

+1’16.166

1’16.166

 1.643

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Final 2025 Drivers Standings:

PTS
1Lando Norris
 423
2Max Verstappen
 421
3Oscar Piastri
 410
4George Russell
 319
5Charles Leclerc
 242
6Lewis Hamilton
 156
7Kimi Antonelli
 150
8Alexander Albon
 73
9Carlos Sainz
 64
10Fernando Alonso
 56
11Nico Hülkenberg
 51
12Isack Hadjar
 51
13Oliver Bearman
 41
14Liam Lawson
 38
15Esteban Ocon
 38
16Lance Stroll
 33
17Yuki Tsunoda
 33
18Pierre Gasly
 22
19Gabriel Bortoleto
 19
20Franco Colapinto
 0
21Jack Doohan
 0
Final 2025 Constructors Standings:
PTS
1 McLaren
 833
2 Mercedes
 469
3 Red Bull
 451
4 Ferrari
 398
5 Williams
 137
6 Racing Bulls
 92
7 Aston Martin
 89
8 Haas
 79
9 Sauber
 70
10 Alpine
 22

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Last race showdown set as Verstappen nabs pole at Yas Marina ahead of P2 Norris, P3 Piastri

Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen kept his come from behind quest for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship very much alive by taking a dominant pole during Saturday Qualifying for Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mastering the high speed twists and turns of the beautifully lit Yas Marina Circuit with aplomb, Verstappen bettered the points-leading McLaren of Lando Norris by two-tenths. Crucially for Norris, however, he was able to keep Oscar Piastri, his teammate and next closest pursuer after Verstappen, behind him when the young Aussie aspirant was unable to improve on a P3 time. Norris “only” needs a third place finish on Sunday to claim his first F1 crown. But it will be crucial that he and Verstappen keep it clean steaming down to Turn 1 when the lights go out and during the early laps in general, while Norris must also not completely abandon his aggression and cede potions to potentially  fall back into the clutches not only of his teammate and rival Piastri but also the Mercedes of George Russell, who lurks in P4 with more pace than his final flying laps in Q3 might indicate. If Verstappen wins and Norris finishes off the podium, it will be a bitter offseason as he watches Verstappen walk away with a fifth championship after looking like having zero shot after Round 14 in Hungary. For Verstappen, it would be an epic comeback that would only add to his still growing legend as one of the Formual 1 all-time greats. And for Piastri, the harsh reality of his once dominant season is that he  needs not only to win the race but then hope a series of misfortunes befalls the top two that sees him outscore Norris by 17 points and Verstappen by 5. Sunday’s GP has all the makings of a true nail biter and one the tensest F1 finales in recent memory, not to mention must watch TV — don’t miss it!

Top 10 qualifiers for the Abu Dhabi GP:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 6

1’22.207

 S 231.264
2 L. Norris McLaren 4 6

+0.201

1’22.408

 0.201 S 230.700
3 O. Piastri McLaren 81 6

+0.230

1’22.437

 0.029 S 230.619
4 G. Russel lMercedes 63 6

+0.438

1’22.645

 0.208 S 230.039
5 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 6

+0.523

1’22.730

 0.085 S 229.802
6 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 6

+0.695

1’22.902

 0.172 S 229.326
7 G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 6

+0.697

1’22.904

 0.002 S 229.320
8 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 6

+0.706

1’22.913

 0.009 S 229.295
9 I. Hadjar Racing Bulls 6 6

+0.865

1’23.072

 0.159 S 228.856
10 Y. TsunodaRed Bull Racing 22 5

 

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s season-ending, Championship-crowning race airs live on ESPN beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. It’s white knuckle time for Norris, as Verstappen and Piastri have nothing to lose by giving it full gas to go for the win in Abu Dhabi, while Norris will have to balance aggression with his need to only survive to a third place finish for his first title. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Results & aftermath

DOWN TO THE WIRE: Verstappen leapfrogs Piastri, closes to within 12 of Norris with win in Qatar after McLaren’s Safety Car strategy backfires; Piastri second, Norris finishes fourth; Sainz captures last podium spot in P3

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his improbable come-from-behind quest for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship by taking advantage of team McLaren’s timidity during an early race Safety Car period and then parlaying his team’s decision to pit him into a win at Lusail International Circuit in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. After starting from P3 start and with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lined up in front of him in P1 and P2 respectively, Verstappen passed Norris almost as soon as the lights went out, steaming by the points leader while heading down to Turn 1. Meanwhile, Piastri kept his lead easily, looking like the man to beat on the night and seeking to creep even closer to Norris after already bagging 8 points with his Saturday Sprint Race win. But the racing gods had other plans for the Aussie when Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg crashed out on Lap 7 while tangling with the Apline of Pierre Gasly during an attempted overtake. With Hulkenberg stranded and debris littering the circuit, a Safety Car was quickly deployed. This opened up the first key strategy decisions of the race. Normally, this would have been too early in the race for the frontrunners to dive to the pits for fresh rubber, the entire top ten starting on the reasonably durable Medium tires. However, due to the high lateral loads that clockwise Lusail sends through the left front tires, Pirelli mandated a 25-lap maximum limit for their tires for the Qatari race. That put Piastri and McLaren in a bind and the team’s braintrust decided to not only keep the race-leading Aussie out but also not to split their strategy and call Norris in for fresh rubber under the SC. This proved to be a mistake, as pretty much the entire field, and most significantly Verstappen, opted to come in for a cheap stop for new tires under the greatly reduced Safety Car speed on Lap 8, and knowing that they’d all be forced to change on Lap 25 regardless. This also meant the early stoppers could now run until Lap 32 before the next tire mandate needed to be met.

While Norris was promoted to second when Verstappen boxed for a new set of Mediums, the Papaya duo were now locked into stopping on Lap 25 and then again later in the race, both out of sequence with the rest of the field and with Verstappen lurking right behind them. Sure enough, when first Piastri pitted on Lap 24 and then Norris a lap later, both also opting for another stint on Mediums, Verstappen inherited the lead. While the Dutch Master would relinquish that P1 position once again for his own mandatory second charge onto the Hard Pirellis on Lap 32, Verstappen had now satisfied all his tire requirements for the remainder of the 57-lap contest and both McLaren’s would have to come in for one more change. Piastri talked the team into pitting a bit earlier than required on Lap 42, hoping that he would be able to use the new Hard boots to take the fight to Verstappen’s 10-lap older tires. He duly came out in third behind Verstappen, with Norris leading the race momentarily. But Norris made his mandatory second stop two laps later and Verstappen retook the race lead. Worse still for the points leader, Norris emerged in P5 when Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli passed him before he could get out of the pits. Despite his best efforts, Piastri was never able to get close enough to Verstappen to even threaten a pass for the win. The Dutchman sailed to victory nearly 8-seconds in front of the P2 Piastri. While Norris was able to make a late pass on Antonelli to secure P4, the final results still saw Verstappen leapfrog Piastri for second in the Drivers’ and he now trails Norris by a mere 12 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi next week. Piastri, now in third, trails by 16. Any of the three could win the Championship at the Yes Marina Circuit next Sunday. Tune in next week to find out who will wear the crown — it’ll be must watch TV!

Top 10 finishers of the Qatar GP:

ResultsFinal
Pos Driver Time Pts
1
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
1:24:38.241
25
2
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
+7.995s
18
3
C. Sainz Jr.
Williams

·

#55
+22.665s
15
4
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
+23.315s
12
5
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
+28.317s
10
6
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
+48.599s
8
7
F. Alonso
Aston Martin

·

#14
+54.045s
6
8
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
+56.785s
4
9
L. Lawson
RB

·

#30
+60.073s
2
10
Y. Tsunoda
Red Bull

·

#22
+61.77s
1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Top 3 Driver Standings with one race remaining:

PTS
1Lando Norris
 408
2Max Verstappen
 396
3Oscar Piastri
 392

The season ending finale is in but a week’s time when the three-way title hunt comes to a climax in Abu Dhabi. Nerves will be on edge in the McLaren camp, particularly on Norris’s side of the garage, as they feel Verstappen’s hot breath on their necks and the Dutchman’s ruthless pursuit of a fifth consecutive championship filling up their rearview mirrors. Hope to see you then to find out how the 2025 season comes to a close and who will be wearing the F1 crown when it does!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Qualifying results

Resurgent Piastri nabs pole at Lusail after dominant Sprint win, looks to keep title hopes alive against McLaren teammate, P2 Norris; Verstappen lines up in P3

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who seemed a favorite for his first Drivers’ Championship until a steep drop in performance following his last win in the Netherlands at the end of August, regained some of his mojo in Qatar this weekend. Seeking to keep the pressure on his points-leading teammate Lando Norris with only two race remaining, Piastri dominated the Saturday Sprint race from the pole and then set the fastest lap in Qualifying later in the day to also take the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Norris was still second fastest, trailing his Aussie stablemate by about a tenth, and will line up alongside Piastri in P2 on the grid. After outscoring Norris 8 to 6 points in the Sprint, Piastri now trails by 22 and will be looking to score the maximum from the weekend to keep his title aspirations alive heading into the finale in Abu Dhabi two weeks from now, while also perhaps hoping that Norris experiences some sort of mechanical misfortune that limits his own points possibilities. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is third in the title hunt and got a big boost to his long shot bid for a fifth consecutive crown after McLaren’s double DQ in and his own victory in Vegas last week, will line up on the second row in P3. The Dutchman will be rooting for more mayhem to befall the two McLaren’s ahead as they battle with one another, as he trails Norris by 25 points, exactly one race win.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Qatar GP:

Driver Grid Qual time
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
1
1:19.387
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
2
1:19.495
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
3
1:19.651
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
4
1:19.662
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
5
1:19.846
I. Hadjar
RB

·

#6
6
1:20.114
C. Sainz Jr.
Williams

·

#55
7
1:20.287
F. Alonso
Aston Martin

·

#14
8
1:20.418
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
9
1:20.477
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
10
1:20.561

Complete quali results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 11 AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Norris overtake his teammate and chief pursuer or will Piastri keep the pressure on until Abu Dhabi by sweeping the weekend? And Can Verstappen pull another miracle out of the bag to keep his long shot title hopes alive until the final round? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Results & aftermath

Verstappen comes up aces in Vegas with race win, while McLaren crap out with double DQ due to technical violations; Game on in championship hunt, as Verstappen gets level with Piastri, trails Norris by only 24 with two races to go

By the time the last of the neon soaked 50-laps of Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix were completed, McLaren’s Lando Norris thought he had done enough to maintain his dominating lead in the Drivers’ Championship with only two more races left to run on the 2025 calendar. Despite a rather overenthusiastic start from the pole that saw him steam off the circuit at Turn 1, allowing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to take the lead and then hold it until the end of the contest, Norris nursed tires and a potential low fuel issue well enough to earn second place when the checkers flew. Even with Verstappen’s 25-point victory, that was only a net gain of seven on Norris’s points bulge, which stood at 49 at that moment in time. Meanwhile, McLaren teammate and chief rival Oscar Piastri continued to sputter down the stretch and could only muster a fourth place result after a difficult weekend of limited running and very changeable track conditions. But it was after the race that it all began to unravel in Papayaland, when both Norris and Piastri were disqualified form the results due to the skid wear on both their cars coming in under the minimum thickness as per the technical regulations. With that astonishing transgression in Sin City, both McLaren men scored precisely zero on the evening, with Verstappen surging in his improbable comeback bid for a fifth consecutive title by now tying Piastri for second place with 366 points and both pursuers trailing Norris by a mere 24 points. With Verstappen’s deficit under just a race win heading into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend, things just got a whole lot more nerve jangling for Norris and the McLaren braintrust, as the young Englishman desperately tries to keep his increasingly fraught grip on what would be his first F1 title.

Top 12 finishers of the Las Vegas GP (includes DQ’s Norris & Piastri, who scored zero):

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL KM/H PITS POINTS
1 M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing 1 50

1:21’08.429

 229.201 1 25
dq L. NorrisMcLaren 4 50

+20.741

1:21’29.170

 20.741 228.228 1
2 G. RussellMercedes 63 50

+23.546

1:21’31.975

 2.805 228.097 1 18
dq O. PiastriMcLaren 81 50

+27.650

1:21’36.079

 4.104 227.906 1
3 A. AntonelliMercedes 12 50

+30.488

1:21’38.917

 2.838 227.774 1 15
4 C. LeclercFerrari 16 50

+30.678

1:21’39.107

 0.190 227.765 1 12
5 C. SainzWilliams 55 50

+34.924

1:21’43.353

 4.246 227.568 1 10
6 I. HadjarRacing Bulls 6 50

+45.257

1:21’53.686

 10.333 227.089 1 8
7 N. HulkenbergSauber 27 50

+51.134

1:21’59.563

 5.877 226.818 1 6
8 L. HamiltonFerrari 44 50

+59.369

1:22’07.798

 8.235 226.439 1 4
9 E. OconHaas F1 Team 31 50

+1’00.635

1:22’09.064

 1.266 226.381 1 2
10 O. BearmanHaas F1 Team 87 50

+1’10.549

1:22’18.978

 9.914 225.927 1 1
11 F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing 14 50

+1’25.308

1:22’33.737

 14.759 225.253 1
12 Y. TsunodaRed Bull Racing 22 50

+1’26.974

1:22’35.403

 1.666 225.178 2

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race, the penultimate of the season, is in but a week’s time — the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit. Norris, Piastri and team McLaren as a whole will have a short turnaround to try to shake off this weekends’ stunning developments in las Vegas, while Verstappen will be keen to keep applying the pressure and continue his quest to pull off one of the most improbably comebacks in F1 history. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Qualifying results

Norris bests Verstappen for pole in bizarre wild & wet Vegas qualifying; Sainz impresses to nab P3; Piastri spins his way to P5 late in the going, damaging title hopes

Top- 10 qualifiers for the Las Vegas GP:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 L. NorrisMcLaren 4 8

1’47.934

 I 206.826
2 M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing 1 7

+0.323

1’48.257

 0.323 I 206.209
3 C. SainzWilliams 55 7

+0.362

1’48.296

 0.039 I 206.135
4 G. RussellMercedes 63 7

+0.869

1’48.803

 0.507 I 205.174
5 O. PiastriMcLaren 81 7

+1.027

1’48.961

 0.158 I 204.876
6 L. LawsonRacing Bulls 30 7

+1.128

1’49.062

 0.101 I 204.687
7 F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing 14 7

+1.532

1’49.466

 0.404 I 203.931
8 I. HadjarRacing Bulls 6 7

+1.620

1’49.554

 0.088 I 203.768
9 C. LeclercFerrari 16 7

+1.938

1’49.872

 0.318 I 203.178
10 P. GaslyAlpine 10 6

+3.606

1’51.540

 1.668

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Saturday night’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 11PM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you the to see if Mother Nature has any more ironic twists up her sleeves for this glitzy night affair in the supposed desert!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Norris sails to victory in Sao Paulo, extends points lead with weekend sweep; Antonelli scores career-best P2 finish; Verstappen rallies from pit lane start to podium with otherworldly P3 effort; Ferrari face double DNF in incident-packed race

McLaren’s Lando Norris did his Championship aspirations a world of good in Sao Paulo, capping off a dominant Round 21 weekend by handily winning Sunday’s Grand Prix after also taking victory in Saturday’s Sprint Race. The young Briton, who will turn 26 in a few days, expanded his lead over top rival and teammate Oscar Piastri to 24 points by taking a maximum of 33 in Brazil. Untoubled in the race after starting from pole, Norris easily led the majority of the 71-laps at Interlagos and was never really pressured by any of the other top competitors, even after early Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods due to incidents behind him. Piastri, meanwhile, showed signs of feeling the pressure of his teammate’s superior form since Round 16 in Italy, when his hit own lead began slipping away. The Aussie contender crashed out of the Saturday Sprint and then qualified P4 for the GP. Eager to advance his position and close the gap to Norris up at the point, Piastri tried a bit of dive-bomb move on the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli steaming ump the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 6. However, the Aussie overcooked it, locked up and wound up tagging the Silver Arrow. Antonelli was then shunted into the second place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, instantly ending the Monegasque’s race with a broken wheel. After taking their time to assign blame, the stewards came down on Piastri to the tune of a ten-second penalty that effectively ended his hopes of a podium finish. Despite his best efforts and leading the race briefly on pit stop cycle, Piastri ended up where he started in fourth, keeping his deficit to Norris to under one victory’s points value at 24. But with only three rounds now remaining in the 2025 season, the advantage for the coveted F1 Drivers’ Title lies strongly with Norris, while Piastri’s stumbles down the stretch make it seem highly unlikely that he can catch him.

Antonelli survived the contact with Piastri and went on to thrive to the tune of a career-best P2 finish. More impressive for the Italian rookie, he had to fight of the otherworldly efforts of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the closing stages of the race. In one of the more astonishing drives in a career already full of them, Verstappen started from the pit lane but stormed all the way back to a P3 podium finish by the time the checkers flew. Not only did the Dutch Master put in a sublime performance behind the wheel, but the team gave him the tools he needed to fight after qualifying a lowly P16. The Red Bull braintrust cleverly opted to give Verstappen a fresh engine, thereby not only requiring a pit lane start but also breaking parc fermé and enabling them to undue the disastrous set-up changes that led to their qualifying woes. Between the powerful new power unit and the savvy tweaks to the car’s aero balance, Verstappen was free to fly and overtook with aplomb until his final set of Soft Pirellis went off in the final laps and Antonelli proved able to escape his best efforts.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paulo GP:

Pos Driver Time Pts
1
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
1:32:01.596
25
2
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
+10.388s
18
3
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
+10.75s
15
4
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
+15.267s
12
5
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
+15.749s
10
6
O. Bearman
Haas

·

#87
+29.63s
8
7
L. Lawson
RB

·

#30
+52.642s
6
8
I. Hadjar
RB

·

#6
+52.873s
4
9
N. Hülkenberg
Kick Sauber

·

#27
+53.324s
2
10
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
+53.914s
1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend takes place towards the end of the month over November 20-22, as the teams head back up to North America for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Which contender will end up the luckiest in that fantastically illuminated nocturnal shootout and who will roll snake eyes?  Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out in Sin City!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Qualifying results

Norris snatches pole at Interlagos with gutsy final effort; Antonelli impresses in P2, Leclerc carries Ferrari hopes in P3; Verstappen astonishingly bounced in Q1 as Red Bull search for answers

With time running out in the final session of Saturday Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris put in a superb final effort worthy of his Drivers’ Championship points lead and title aspirations. Norris, who had muffed his first flying lap, stormed to a 1:09.511 time when he crossed the stripe, good enough for pole position in Sunday’s race and also a bit of psychological edge over his Papaya teammate, Oscar Piastri, who could only muster P4 on the pylon with his best try. With Norris having already won the earlier Sprint Race and starting from the pole for the Grand Prix at the short but intense Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, aka Interlagos, as well as having overhauled his Aussie stablemate and archrival in the points, the young Englishman set himself up nicely to try and nail down his first career F1 crown. Piastri, on the other hand will be desperate to reassert some kind of momentum with only four more races remaining in 2025, Norris having outscored him in every race since his last win in the Netherlands back on August 31st.

Perhaps more newsworthy than who earned the upper ranks of the starting grid was who didn’t, and chief among them was an astonishingly poor Q1 time by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen that mired him in P16 and knocked him out in the first round. It was a serious ding to the Dutchman’s underdog title aspirations and Red Bull will have to figure out how to make the car go faster overnight after dialing it in the wrong direction before quali and all while in parc fermé conditions. With potentially heavy weather forecast for Sunday’s race, they may be hoping for that rainy day so that Verstappen can potentially replicate his astonishing wet weather win from last year, when he stormed to victory from P17. The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also struggled for grip and could not get out of Q2, with only the thirteenth fastest time on the board in that session.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli put in a stonking effort to overhaul Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and take P2 on the grid, demoting Lecerc to P3 and the second row alongside the P4 Piastri. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar continued his remarkable rookie campaign with a solid Q3 effort good enough for P5, bettering the second Merc of George Russell, who so struggled on the favored Soft Pirelli rubber that he actaully gambled on Mediums for his final run, to little or no appreciable effect.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Sao Paulo GP:

# DRIVER TEAM TIME TYRE
1
Lando NORRIS
 McLaren 1:09.511
2
Kimi ANTONELLI
 Mercedes 1:09.685
3
Charles LECLERC
 Ferrari 1:09.805
4
Oscar PIASTRI
 McLaren 1:09.886
5
Isack HADJAR
 Racing Bulls 1:09.931
6
George RUSSELL
 Mercedes 1:09.942
7
Liam LAWSON
 Racing Bulls 1:09.962
8
Oliver BEARMAN
 Haas 1:09.977
9
Pierre GASLY
 Alpine 1:10.002
10
Nico HULKENBERG
 Stake 1:10.039

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at noon on ESPN2 here in the States. With some possibly wild weather forecast, it could be a very unpredictable race and maybe Vrstappen’s only chance to get back in the action. Norris, however, will be hoping for smooth sailing from the front as he looks to keep gapping teammate Piastri down the home stretch. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

Norris dominates scrappy Mexico City GP to retake championship lead; gritty Leclerc holds off Verstappen for second place; Piastri does damage limitation coming home P5

McLaren’s Lando Norris capped off a picture perfect weekend with a dominant victory at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, vaulting himself back into the championship lead ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri by a single point. In a scrappy contest on a very hot and dusty Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez that saw multiple drivers struggle to keep their cars on the circuit when pushing ten-tenths, Norris reigned serene and supreme, capitalizing on his pole position and then running away to the tune of an over 30-second advantage over the second place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc when the checkers flew. Piastri was able to somewhat limit the damage to his championship aspirations, despite the psychological blow of relinquishing the lead to Norris, by improving on his poor P7 starting position to come home in P5. While Piastri  maximized his race pace to work his way by both Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell late in the going en route to that fifth place result, the young Aussie ace could not quite find a way past impressive Haas rookie, Oliver Bearman, who held off the McLaren to finish a career high P4. Piastri was also hindered by a penultimate lap Virtual Safety Car due to the stricken Williams of Carlos Sainz, which did not come to an end until the last half of the final lap of this 71-lap tilt. Likewise, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was also balked by that late VSC as he pursued Leclerc/\’s Prancing Horse, and the Dutchman had to settle for P3. It was still a valuable 15-points for Verstappen after starting from P5, and kept him in the Drivers’ Championship conversation by staying within 36 points of Norris and 35 of Piastri with only four rounds remaining.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexico City GP:

DRIVER TEAM TIMES
1. Lando Norris McLaren 1:42.980
2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +30.324
3. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.725
4. Oliver Bearman Haas +9.906
5. Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.110
6. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +5.772
7. George Russell* Mercedes +2.450
8. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +6.159
9. Esteban Ocon Haas +19.018
10. Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1.399

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the São Paulo Grand Prix from legendary Interlagos. Norris will be looking to keep his mojo working, Piastri will be desperate to regain his momentum and Verstappen will be keen to keep the pressure on the talented but young McLaren duo. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Norris nails it for pole at Hermanos Rodriguez, keeps pressure on Piastri, who stumbles to P8; Ferrari strong at altitude, as Leclerc notches P2, Hamilton P3 ahead of Russell & Verstappen

Lando Norris continued to ratchet up the pressure on his championship leading teammate Oscar Piastri by laying down a blistering lap good enough for pole during Saturday Qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Norris was by far the fastest driver on the day and headed the P2 Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by nearly three-tenths. The Scuderia nevertheless had a very good day between Leclerc’s solid second-best effort and Lewis Hamilton’s stout P3, and the fabled team from Maranello will be desperate to convert those efforts into race pace as they incredibly hunt their first win of the season here in Round 20. Piastri, on the other hand, continued to scuffle down the stretch, notching only the eighth best time in Q3. While Piastri will gain a position due to a penalty to Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who unbelievably out-qualified him, the young Aussie’s famous equipoise seems to have deserted him at the most crucial juncture of the season. In fact,  he has been out-scored by Norris in every race since his last win in the Netherlands back in Round 15. With five races remaining and his points lead over his teammate down to just 14, Piastri will have to fight from deep in the top ten on the grid to maximize his result in the race, hoping that Norris drops back, while also avoiding trouble with the other contenders that could further damage his championship aspirations.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen saw his impressive late season comeback efforts somewhat stymied when Mercedes’ George Russel got then better of him, P4 to P5. Still, the Red Bull in Verstappen’s hands has traditionally been an impressive weapon here at the high altitude of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and usually seems well suited the quirky nature of the circuit so, one would be foolish to count the Dutchman out as a contender come race day.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

DRIVER TEAM TIMES
1 – Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.586
2 – Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.262
3 – Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.352
4 – George Russell Mercedes +0.448
5 – Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.484
6 – Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.532
7 – Carlos Sainz* Williams +0.586
8 – Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.588
9. Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.666
10 – Oliver Bearman Haas +0.874

Complete qualifying results available via Formula!1.com.

Sunday’s Mexico City GP airs live on ABC starting at 4 PM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Norris can keep upping the pressure on teammate & rival Piastri by converting pole into victory or if Ferrari can translate their qualifying pace into an opportunity for their first win of the season!