2025 F1 Abu Dhabi GP Race: As it happened - Lando Norris wins the 2025 F1 World Championship

Norris pits from third place, he is followed by Leclerc and Alonso

Are the medium tyres beginning to wilt?

Piastri has closed the gap down on Verstappen to +1.6secs 

Russell is the first of the medium runners to bite as he pits from fifth place

Hadjar and Bearman follow him in

5secs time penalty for Liam Lawson, for 'driving erratically' at Turn 8 in his battle with Bearman.

He'll serve that at his pit-stop

Hadjar is leading a bit of a DRS train in eighth place - the Frenchman jumped Ocon at the start, but he has the Haas, plus Tsunoda, Lawson, Bearman and Sainz in his wake.

It's worth noting that the other leading driver on hards is Tsunoda - can Red Bull play the Japanese into this race through the pit-stops

Good news for Norris fans - he appears to have shaken the attentions of Leclerc, who has slipped +1.5s off the back of the McLaren.

Piastri is keeping Verstappen honest, the gap between them static at around two seconds.

Norris is +1.8s behind Piastri, while Leclerc has lost a little ground but is clinging onto DRS

Those on the softs - Hulkenberg, Hamilton and Albon - have pitted to ditch their tyres already

Leclerc is a major threat to Norris here, regularly closing right up to the rear wing of the McLaren at the end of the DRS zones

Not close enough to mount an attack, but not far off

McLaren are stage managing this a bit, asking Piastri to put pressure on Verstappen to rid Norris of the dirty air in front of him

Verstappen leads Piastri by +2.3s, with Norris a further +1.4s behind.

Leclerc is teetering on a second adrift of Norris

Norris would win the title if the positions stayed like this to the end

Hamilton, who was one of a handful to start on soft tyres, is making some progress up to 13th place and he is bothering Tsunoda, Lawson and Bearman in front of him in the fight for the final point

Ferrari looking a lot quicker in race trim

Russell clears Alonso for fifth place into Turn 6

A big help for Norris that Russell didn't get a great start and dropped from fourth to sixth.

The Mercedes looks like it can go with the McLarens this weekend, but he now has Leclerc and Alonso in front of him.

Leclerc could be the wild card here as he fights to stay in Norris' DRS range

Verstappen, meanwhile, has two seconds over Piastri

Punchy opening couple of laps for Leclerc, who battled it out hard with an aggressive Alonso through the first part of the opening lap before eventually wrestling fourth off him.

He is now turning his attention to Norris, who doesn't have the pace to go with Piastri right now

A fabulous move by Piastri on Norris on the opening lap around the outside of Turn 9 on the hard tyres.

DRS open now, but Piastri and Norris don't have it

But Leclerc right behind Norris does

1- Verstappen

2- Piastri

3- Norris

4- Leclerc

5- Alonso

6- Russell

7- Bortoleto

8- Hadjar

9- Ocon

10- Tsunoda

Dream start for Verstappen, who gets the advantage into Turn 1, Norris and Piastri slot into second and third

Piastri is harassing Norris and gets the move done with a brilliant pass around the outside of Turn 9

Verstappen leads into Turn 1, holding off Norris and Piastri

Leclerc, Alonso pass Russell

Warm up lap underway - tyres have been revealed

Mediums - Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Leclerc, Alonso, Bortoleto, Ocon, Hadjar

Hards - Piastri, Tsunoda

Also, spare a thought for Renault as an engine supplier and Sauber as an independent team in their final race

Renault will cease its engine operations to put its might behind running the Alpine F1 team, while Sauber morphs into Audi for next year

Less than 5mins to go until lights out... tension building!

58 laps to decide the 2025 F1 World Champion

This race will be a fond farewell for Yuki Tsunoda, who was this week confirmed to be stepping down from his seat at Red Bull Racing and assuming a test and reserve role for the team.

He will be replaced by Isack Hadjar, who caps off a stellar maiden campaign with a prestigious - if ominous - switch to the multiple title winning team alongside Max Verstappen.

The Frenchman's spot in Racing Bulls goes the way of Arvid Lindblad, who will be the only rookie on the grid in 2026

Just 15mins to go until the start of the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP