“A different kind of winner.”
For the sixty-third and final time in 2025, welcome to Dre’s Race Review. I’ll get the speech out of the way quickly, I’d just like to take this intro to say thank you. It’s been one of the most difficult years of my life, on and off the Macbook, and the only real constant I had in those times, was you readers. It’s a genuine pleasure putting this series of blogs together, I never lose sight of the fact it’s a genuine privilege to entertain you and I’m always touched that so many of you make a beeline to hear what I have to say about a chronically unserious collection of sports.
Thank you. One more time for the road. Let’s talk F1’s Desert Decider 2: Norris Boogaloo.
The “True” Ending
It’s always the hope that gets you. As I said on TikTok going into the weekend, Lando Norris was a 4/1 ON favourite to win the title (80% implied probability with the bookies), but with it being an F1 title decider, you do all the maths in your head, and throw up 117 possible scenarios where it works out for your favourite. You hope that George Russell sends one into the Turn 1 apex, or the McLaren’s replicate the Austin sprint, or Max and Norris hit each other like in Spielberg last year. Anything, that gives us that drama we crave as sports fans, that soap opera-esque vibe we really tune in for.
But like so many things in life, reality hits you like a gentle yet slightly patronising hand on the shoulder. On paper, this finale played out exactly how the formbook suggested. George Russell botched his start and didn’t play spoiler. Max Verstappen did everything he could, to perfection. Qualified via a brilliant pole position, his two fastest laps were good enough for top spot. He drove a perfect race to dominate and beat McLaren one last time to cement a rampage of a final chase down.
Lando Norris played it as cautiously as he needed to, letting teammate Oscar Piastri lead the way on his hard tire start and while he did flirt with fourth place Charles Leclerc for a little bit, the latter’s tires were never built for the fight. When the traffic came early on, Lando masterfully picked off the train, including a weaving Yuki Tsunoda in his final race for Red Bull. Beyond that, he could cruise home safely in third, safe in the knowledge that even if the Ferrari got back in front, McLaren had openly admitted they would just pull Piastri to one side to make sure someone in orange took the glory. Happy Fun Times: The Final Chapter.
Oscar Piastri needed the miracle, but drove as fast as he could. The story of his season, where maybe the ultimate upside of his ability in the McLaren was just a little better than Lando’s. He stayed out on his Hard tires for 40 laps, hassling Verstappen all the way home, but it was just too big an ask. But a nice reminder over the last fortnight as to why he was a title contender this season, and led the campaign for 15 out of the 24 races.
Nope, the race played out… pretty much by the book. And that’s a fitting end. No shenanigans. No Safety Cars. No strategic failings or dodgy pitstops, no swaps needed or asked for, no mess. When the title fight needed clarity, the sport delivered it, and in the end, Lando Norris finally climbed the mountain top. He’s been the face of this McLaren team that’s had to rebuild itself through the hard times of Honda and Renault power, questionable driver hiring decisions, technical reshuffles, and flagrant miscolouring of orange. And to a degree, I feel sorry for him. He doesn’t fit the conventional mould of what so many have labelled World Champions in F1’s past.
He didn’t absolutely dominate proceedings, drive people dirty or have this ruthless mean streak. Lando’s been shy, a little nippy, someone who’s been incredibly open and honest about his own abilities. Critical, infuriated with himself, vulnerable, honest with his mental health in a sport that better resembles a pressure cooker at the best of times. When he won it all, he balled his eyes out and thought about making his mother proud. I dunno about you reader, but I’ve been there so many times myself.
He’s always split the room. Many have discredited how good a driver he could be, despite a glowing junior resume, a rise into F1’s elite, and winning just his second major title campaign (And last year was debatable on that front too.) This very season, we threw up the same narratives about choking under pressure while we gassed Piastri up to unfathomable heights as a foil to him unfairly, many jumped on the Verstappen wagon by proxy for humour because of McLaren’s hellaciously awkward man management. But when it mattered most, when Max was gunning him down trying to do what we asked Lando to last year, Lando held on. And now he’s a World Champion. And no-one can take that way for him, no matter how much you deserved it. After all, “deserving” is so often the empty vessel of the insecure.
A shoutout to the contenders. Max Verstappen’s second half of the season was incredible. An average finish of 1.6 after Zandvoort isn’t far off his 19-win astonishment of 2023. For me, he’s cemented his status as the pound-for-pound racing driver on the planet today and chased down 102 out of the 104 point deficit he had after his home race. As much as you can say Barcelona played a hand in it, a better pitwall and a better car over two thirds of the year meant a lot more than the handful of points he left behind there. That’s why we hate playoffs in our Motorsport, because it asks us as consumers to ignore the bigger picture and focus on the big moments, even when the answers aren’t so simple. Max was outstanding, and his effort down the stretch made this championship what it was.
As for Oscar Piastri, I feel for him most. He’s always been the vessel for us as an audience to mold into what we want him to be, and not what he is. From the moment he debuted, so may have wanted him to be the guy. And for a lot of this season, he was. He was fast from Day 1, and has only gotten better and better as his career has gone on so far. Think about it, when was the last time a third year driver truly challenged for the title? Sebastian Vettel in 2010 – Another man who we didn’t know what to do with, even after he won it all. His speed at times was relentless, his bravery, racecraft and maturity way, way beyond his years. And at times, he ticked that box so many of us watching wanted ticking, wanting to do things this way. And while that Autumn of discontent will sting, remember – Piastri has done everything we’ve ever asked of him as a race driver so far, and beyond. I have no doubt he’ll get there too one day, even if the frustration of this year will sting.
This wasn’t your average title race. It wasn’t the chasing of perfection that we often think sports is about. It was about adapting, surviving, dodging the chaos, leaning on your team more than ever before I’d wager. For all his faults, one thing about Lando Norris that was iron clad, was his belief that one day he could win the World Championship. And today, he did. Congratulations Lando, don’t let anything, including your head, tell you otherwise. A different kind of winner, in a different kind of Championship.
The Final Lightning Round
The Yuki Tsunoda news dropped in between DRR’s, and it’s a sad closing of the book for the Japanese driver. I was always a fan of his, but there always felt like there was an asterisk to his time in the sport. He started out okay… but Pierre Gasly was better. He established himself… but had teammates that were either poor (Nyck De Vries), or ones he couldn’t stand out against (Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo).
He got a hail mary shot in the big boy seat after the Lawson experiment failed… but was on the backfoot after the huge crash in Imola and never really recovered in terms of treatment for upgrades or form in general. I’m glad he’s still a part of the team as a reserve because he stands a better chance of getting back on the grid than being cut loose entirely, but it’s unfortunate that after 5 years in house, it just never came together. And yes, I think that’s why he still played the team game at the end. If you were still on the payroll, wouldn’t you?
And thus, the final race of the Ground Effect era came to an end. Somehow I don’t think it’ll be missed. There was such promise when this regulation set started in 2022, cars actually running close, and some thrilling battles, but as it so often does, the engineers get their way, the topside downforce comes through, and in the end, a lot of the action ended up processional. It’s been a shame. Although, given we don’t have a final regulation set for 2026 and the first test for it is seven weeks away, I’m dreading what may be coming next…
Credit to Rory Mitchell over at F1 Debrief for it, but if you’re curious, we think Kimi Antonelli was the final man to press a DRS button.
All three main contenders all scored 410 points or more. The points record until 2023, was 413. I know, 24 round season and Sprints now, but still incredible the standard that they all set.
Not a lot of drama elsewhere either. The incredibly tight battle at the bottom of the Constructors’ standings held with no major spin. Hard not to feel sorry for Sauber in their final race as we know them – 70 points and somehow 9th in the standings. Brutally competitive year.
Charles Leclerc drove the nuts off that Ferrari to even give Norris a fright in that race. Don’t think he was ever truly the spoiler many wanted him to be, but man that double box alongside Lando and missing the chance of an undercut on the first stop was frustrating as a neutral.
The Verdict: 5/10 (Meh) – This was fine. It’s another case as to why Abu Dhabi is often moaned about as the decider. It was a modestly intriguing strategy race, but not much more than that. The drama mostly came from our own heads as to what could happen, rather than what did. That nature of title deciders after all. I’ve been Dre Harrison, and that was Dre’s Race Review. See you back for the Season Review, and the Motorsport101 Awards. Take care, and have a wonderful Christmas. *closes Macbook*
