How McLaren disarmed a key Verstappen tactic to help Norris win the 2025 F1 title

Abu Dhabi's atmosphere, thick with tension, left it hard for Formula 1's trio of championship challengers to breathe. This was a unique brand of tension, one that permeated through millions of screens around the world throughout the 58-lap duration of 2025's final chapter at Yas Marina. After the dust from the Emirati desert had settled in place, that intoxicating tenseness rather carried the spectacle; on paper, it was a straightforward Max Verstappen win, flanked by the two McLarens on the podium.

Yet, contextualised by the year-long battle for the championship, the weight was lifted off Lando Norris' shoulders, replaced with a proverbial wreath; the toil and pressure of an F1 title fight was over. He could not go gentle into that good night - his competitors would not allow him to bask in his position one iota. It was a culmination of all that he'd faced throughout 2025, and Norris dealt with it admirably. The crown was his at the race's denouement.

Verstappen gave it everything; a success-starved Dutch lion smelled blood after F1's summer break, and tore through a three-figure deficit to bring himself into contention at the final round. McLaren, posing as a pack of startled impala, had become weary as it sought to shake off the savannah's most dangerous predator.

Red Bull was not entirely sure of itself as it entered the Abu Dhabi weekend, but the RB21 continued to demonstrate how it had been reformed over the second half of the season; Verstappen delivered the pole he needed, and replicated the race-day dominance we've come to expect from him. Still, it wasn't quite enough to complete F1's biggest title comeback - his fortunes were seemingly dead and buried after Zandvoort, but a resurrection of biblical magnitude brought him back into contention.

Oscar Piastri could not manage the even-less-possible either, his championship credentials mortally wounded by his series of off-weekends amid the first batch of flyaway races. His run in Qatar kept him in the hunt by the skin of his teeth, but he was at the behest of fortune throughout the finale.

The Australian still had his role to play. McLaren had adhered to its self-administered code of conduct throughout the year, prioritising fairness and allowing its two drivers to fight for the title until the end - and to boost Piastri's chances, it had to do something different with strategy. It must be said that the consequences of doing so also gave Norris' hopes a much better chance as the Briton stewed in his own sweat while under pressure from Charles Leclerc early on.

McLaren outfoxes Red Bull, covers off hold-up threat

Verstappen had to pull out a lead to cover off Piastri's contra-strategy, rather than back up the pack

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A point of difference between McLaren and Red Bull is one of philosophy. McLaren's approach in maintaining parity has been criticised for being too rigid, particularly when under threat from Verstappen. On the day itself, Verstappen beat the two McLarens handily; were this a grand prix ensconced within the middle of the season, the Woking squad might draw criticism for the way it played the cards it was dealt.

McLaren, however, had the bigger picture of a title fight at play, and this was where Red Bull's current first driver-second driver philosophy fell down. Red Bull has prioritised flexibility, knowing that it can chop-and-change strategy calls and rely on Verstappen's vast repository of talent to make it work. This was a rare occasion where McLaren used both cars to deny Red Bull's one from dictating the race.

Unlike the medium-shod Verstappen and Norris, Piastri started on the hard tyre. The win-condition for Piastri was that, if there was a safety car at play once the two drivers ahead in the championship had pitted, he would be able to pit for mediums cheaply and potentially retain the lead. As it played out, there were no interruptions; thus, Piastri had to go long, build a tyre delta, and go after Verstappen towards the end on the mediums.

"I think it was quite clever from their side. It gave them a lot of options and ultimately gave us two scenarios to battle for the win. We were not expecting it" Laurent Mekies on McLaren's starting tyre split

It was a two-pronged approach. By equipping Piastri with the hard tyres, he was on a different strategy and could goal-hang for any opportunities that came his way, but it also worked for Norris in the process. Were Verstappen to lead from Norris after the opening lap, the Dutchman could take the opportunity to back the pack up and put the McLarens at risk of being overtaken by the pack behind - a situation Lewis Hamilton had attempted to manufacture when fighting Nico Rosberg for the title in 2016.

In that scenario, Verstappen would then bolt away from Norris a few laps before stopping, opening himself a gap to avoid the majority of the traffic and leave Norris to lose time tangling in the mid-pack. But if Piastri was able to get into second, McLaren theorised that would force the Red Bull driver into having to push; owing to the points situation, Verstappen could not really afford to lose the lead.

Indeed, Piastri made the move on Norris at Turn 9, putting himself up to second and thus making Verstappen's expected plans of backing up the pack unworkable. At the time, there was the hint that McLaren had orchestrated the move - and team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that it was an outcome tabled in the team's post-qualifying debrief.

"We did discuss, first of all we discussed even more than usual that we obviously wanted to have absolutely clean racing in the first lap," Stella began, "but we also discussed that with Oscar on a hard tyre, not making life difficult for Oscar to take the second place and then try and attack Verstappen, was a strategic option that Lando was supporting. 

Magnanimous in defeat, Piastri labelled Norris a 'deserved winner'

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"It was a good and fair overtaking by Oscar, but in itself this is a scenario that we discussed, so it wasn't the hardest of the battles, because there was a general interest from this point of view."

Verstappen was thus forced to compromise. This left Norris a little bit exposed for a spell, as a fast-starting Leclerc filled his mirrors and made a couple of attempts with DRS to spoil the party. Norris had enough in reserve and soaked up the Monegasque's pressure before eventually breaking the one-second barrier to evade being caught with DRS.

Piastri kept tabs on Verstappen throughout the opening act, and then had a chance to lead the race for 17 laps once Verstappen had discarded his mediums for his own set of hards. With fresh rubber Verstappen began to scythe away at the offset and, once Piastri was passed, the McLaren driver made his own escape to the pits for a final stint on the mediums.

This handed Piastri the pace advantage; in querying how he could win the race, there were shades of Qatar when Piastri was given his target lap time. Since Verstappen ratcheted up his own pace, he staunched the gap haemorrhaging to Piastri to ensure there was little chance that the McLaren driver could steal the win late on.

Red Bull's narrative over a potential backing-up tactic differs here; Verstappen said that it was a possibility, but McLaren's split strategy made it impossible - while team principal Laurent Mekies stated that the team "didn't feel it was the right option for us". Either way, McLaren had caught Red Bull off-guard, killing off any remaining thoughts of hold-up play.

"We were [surprised McLaren started Piastri on hard tyres]," Mekies conceded. "I think it was quite clever from their side. It gave them a lot of options and ultimately gave us two scenarios to battle for the win. So yeah, we were not expecting it."

Norris clears final hurdles ahead of maiden championship win

Norris found Leclerc pressure tough in the early stages

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Knowing that third would have to do, given the pace of Verstappen and Piastri in front, Norris fought tooth and nail to retain it despite Leclerc's onslaught in the opening lap. After 10 laps of sustained pressure, Leclerc had to retreat to ensure his own mediums could make it to the end of the stint, if to head off the threat of graining.

The pace of the Ferrari had been much stronger in the race, as Ferrari admitted to experimenting with its set-up options to get more out of the car on Sunday; the battle for second in the championship had effectively fallen out of its grasp, and thus the team could do as it pleased. It was a set-up choice that made the SF-25 erratic on Saturday, but clearly demonstrated good pace across a race distance.

To nip the threat of an undercut in the bud, Norris stopped at the end of the 16th tour, followed in by Leclerc. The caveat was that both drivers were hurled into traffic, although Norris made quick work of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz on lap 18, and dispatched both Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson at Turn 6 on the following lap in a two-for-one overtake. Not to be outdone, Leclerc performed the same move on the lap after.

"I believe I've won the championship this year my way by being a fair driver, by trying to be an honest driver" Lando Norris

This put Yuki Tsunoda next on Norris' horizon. Told by his race engineer to hold Norris up, citing the Briton's 1.4-second gap to Leclerc behind, Tsunoda was expected to perform the same duties as Sergio Perez 's "Minister of Defence" routine against Hamilton in 2021 - but instead, barely even serviced a poor imitation.

Norris caught Tsunoda by the end of the 22nd lap and, on the next one, prepared to make his attack in the first DRS zone. Tsunoda appeared to cover and then turned his one allotted defensive move into a weave - moving across the straight like the needle of a sewing machine. Forced wide, Norris dispatched the Red Bull with all four wheels off the track; the stewards deemed the situation Tsunoda's fault, reasoning that Norris would have passed him more cleanly had Tsunoda not driven in such an erratic manner. The Japanese driver's defence was non-existent when Leclerc made his way past.

Once clear, Norris restocked his advantage over Leclerc - and McLaren subsequently made plans to cover the Ferrari driver should he stop for a second time. Leclerc's plan was to wait for a gap to form versus George Russell, who was significantly slower as he hoped to make a one-stopper work out, and Norris needed to build enough of an advantage to give himself room to evade the undercut.

In truth, it worked out better for Norris than anticipated. Leclerc stopped for a second time on lap 39, with Norris following suit; this delayed Piastri's sole stop by a lap, but he could ultimately afford to wait for one more tour. Norris jumped Russell, but Leclerc did not; he spent a couple of laps in the Mercedes' languid wake, and sat over five seconds behind the McLaren once Russell was eventually cleared. Although armed with an immediate tyre delta, Leclerc on mediums versus Norris' hards, the championship leader simply needed to match the Ferrari's pace until the mediums dropped off.

Tsunoda's shoddy defence did little to evoke memories of Perez's rearguard duties four years ago

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As the laps were peeled off, McLaren had now seized control of the title narrative - if not the lead. Verstappen needed a 2021-esque miracle in the form of a safety car and Norris simply needed his car to make it to the finish. Only one of those two outcomes was forthcoming.

While McLaren has taken criticism for the way that it wants to go racing, Norris' approach has also come under fire. He detailed this in the press conference, understandably giddy with euphoria, yet, there was clarity to them - an answer that he perhaps hadn't felt at liberty to give before the season was out.

"I really hope it doesn't change anything I do, and the way I do things," Norris gushed in the aftermath. "I believe I've won the championship this year my way by being a fair driver, by trying to be an honest driver.

"At times, could I have been more aggressive and got off the brakes and had a few people over? I certainly could have done. And maybe I would need to do more of that in the future. But did I need to do it this year? Is that the way I want to go racing? Is that me? It's not."

What we thought would be a year characterised by overly controlled McLaren dominance was made all the more exciting by Verstappen's resurgence over the second half of the year. The Dutchman agreed that it was, from a performance point of view, his best season; indeed, cutting a 104-point deficit to two in the space of nine rounds rather corroborates that suggestion. But it was bittersweet, as personal satisfaction came at the cost of the #1 sticker on the yellow-capped Red Bull nose that has terrorised the mirrors of other drivers for four years.

He'll be back at some point, will Verstappen. Whether that's in 2026, we just don't know - F1's second ground-effect era comes to a close, and it'll be a while before we see some semblance of a competitive order in the championship's brave new age. And so, another chapter in Formula 1's rich history has closed - and what a year it's been.

McLaren celebrates its first drivers' title since Lewis Hamilton won in 2008

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