Abu Dhabi was all set to receive the drivers, the teams and the fans for the final race of the season – one that was building up a lot of hype, expectation and jeopardy, especially for McLaren after the disqualifications in Las Vegas and the poor strategy decisions in Qatar. Therefore, despite having competed in 23 Grands Prix and 6 Sprint races, there was no clear winner of the World Drivers’ Championship yet and it would all come down to this final race – with three contenders in the hunt to be Champion at the death, for the first time in 15 years. For the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team, there was still a chance of snatching sixth place in the Constructors' standings from the RB team coming into the weekend. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this race and report live from the circuit and the Paddock at times.
Free Practice
Friday’s FP1 marked the beginning of the end of the season. However, neither of the Aston Martin drivers would participate, as they ceded their places to allow up and coming drivers to get practice time – one of the FIA’s mandatory requirements for all teams. Jak Crawford and Cian Shields were on the track for the team in Free Practice One, with Jak driving Lance's car as he continued his preparations for his role as the Third/Reserve Driver for the team in 2026, while Cian drove Fernando's car after accumulating over 500km in Formula One TPC machinery this season. Jak was also competing in the Formula Two races that were taking place in support of the main spectacle. Crawford and Shields ran P19 & P20 for the entire session and that is where they finished. Norris finished up at the front, with Verstappen right behind him. Piastri didn't take part either – likewise ceding his place to rookie, Patricio O'Ward.
For FP2, as the sun began to set on this corner of the United Arab Emirates, the usual driver pairing was restored, with Alonso and Stroll commencing the ‘dial in’ and set up of their AMR25s according to their preferences and building confidence with the car. Both AMs got on track early and Alonso was immediately on the mark, going P3, with Stroll in P8. After 15 minutes though and with the track ramping up, they had dropped to P9 and P17 respectively. Things only improved for them after they switched over to the soft tyres and with 15 minutes to go Alonso was in P9 again and Stroll was up to P12, which is where they finished when the chequered flag came out. At the front it was Norris once again in P1, Verstappen in P2. The Aston Martin mechanics seemingly couldn’t get the cars in the right window which meant it was going to be long evening and night for them to try and rectify that.
The final FP3 session the following day required both drivers to learn quickly how the car felt after the mechanics’ labours and how I was reacting on the circuit, which is known to be tricky for finding the right balance, with many drivers getting lap times deleted. This time it was Stroll who seemed to be on point early, running in P2 at the halfway stage, with Alonso down in P13. Heading into the final 15 minutes, the session was red flagged after Hamilton crashed and had to have his Ferrari scooped away. At the finish, it was Russell that led the way, followed by Norris and Verstappen, with Alonso showing excellent pace, in P4! Stroll finished 14th.
Qualifying
The final Qualifying of the 2025 season proved a highly competitive affair, with tight margins throughout the field as the grid got set for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Darkness enshrouded the Yas Marina Circuit as the evening arrived, the lights turned green and the cars rolled out. The good news for Hamilton was that his Ferrari had been repaired and he was one of the first on track. Stroll also went out quite early and placed himself in P3. When Stroll came back to the garage Alonso headed out and placed his AMR25 in P2. After all the drivers had completed their first runs Alonso was in P6, Stroll P11. All of them then headed on track for their final attempts, Alonso and Stroll leaving it until there were just a couple of minutes left to go, hoping to benefit from maximum track evolution, and they finished safely through to the next round, with Alonso in P4 again and Stroll in P11. Piastri, Verstappen and Antonelli were 1-2-3.
In Q2 Alonso and Stroll took their time to start their out laps and both looked comfortable setting their initial times, Alonso going P3 and Stroll P5 and looked to be in solid positions after all the drivers had completed their first runs, with Alonso in P5 and Stroll in P7. Then everybody headed out for their final laps and whilst Alonso initially went P3, Stroll was a bit messy in turn 14, lost time, didn’t improve and finished in P15 – eliminated by 1/10th of a second - the gaps between cars being very small more often than not, and that was the case again this time. Alonso meanwhile ended up in P4, whereas the top 3 were: Russell Verstappen & Norris.
And then there were 10 for the final round of Qualifying. Alonso headed on track and after all the initial lap times had been posted Alonso was in P7. Out he went again and managed to improve – finishing in P6. At the front, Verstappen managed to get a tow from his team-mate Tsunoda, going down the main straight to start the lap, put in one of the performances of the season - and of his illustrious career - to take a scintillating pole position, with Norris in P2 and Piastri in P3 – all the Championship contenders in the top 3 for the start of the race. It was gearing up to be an epic title finish.
Race
40 minutes prior to the 58 lap race start and in glorious sunshine the drivers headed out of their garages in their cars and down the pit lane for a couple of warm up laps, before positioning themselves on the grid for the race start, by which time the sun had set and the floodlights took over. On the formation lap it was revealed that Alonso would start on medium compound tyre while Stroll would be on hard tyres. As would one of the championship contenders, Piastri, meaning they were gambling on an incident free opening stint which would allow them to go deeper into the race. And so it was to be – Verstappen, Norris and Piastri had a clean start, but behind them, Russell lost 2 places, one of them to Alonso, who managed to pull up alongside Leclerc’s Ferrari on the opening few corners but eventually had to yield. Stroll had lost a place off the start to Hamilton, so that by the end of the first lap Alonso was P5, Stroll P16. On the second lap, despite being on the harder, theoretically slower tyres, Piastri overtook Norris round the outside and moved up to P2. Meanwhile, Russell had regrouped and got himself just behind Alonso at the start of lap 3, eventually passing him on the next lap. On his next lap Stroll had got himself into a rhythm and was within a second of Albon ahead. Hamilton, who had started from 18th on soft, faster tyres, had hauled himself up to 13th but had to come into the pits on lap 9 for his first stop, as did Albon on lap 10, which allowed Stroll to move up to P14. Over the course of the next 5 laps other drivers ahead of Stroll started peeling into the pits for tyre changes and Stroll moved up to 10th and into the points. On the next lap Stroll passed Sainz and was in P9 and on lap 17 it was Alonso’s turn to pit and he came out well behind Stroll, in 14th. Worryingly, it looked as if Hamilton and Hulkenberg had both undercut Alonso, so he now needed to fight to regain position. When Norris and Alonso had to pit Stroll was able to run 6th and was managing his hard tyres well. But Norris, on fresher tyres, quickly caught and passed Stroll and stayed focused on getting himself into the top 3, meaning he would be the new World Drivers’ Champion. Alonso, still stuck behind Hulkenberg and Hamilton was able to move up a place when Lawson came into the pits and he gained another couple of places when Ocon pitted and then after he overtook Antonelli on lap 29. At the front the race lead changed when Verstappen came in for his tyre change and Piastri took over – still on the hard tyres, with Norris up to 3rd. At the halfway stage the Aston Martins were running in P7 – Stroll and P9 – Alonso. Norris was briefly under investigation for going over white lines while overtaking Tsunoda for position, but he was cleared and it was Tsunoda that was handed a penalty for weaving in front of Norris. Hamilton eventually pitted again, on lap 32, which moved Alonso up to 8th and when Tsunoda came in on lap 33, for new tyres and to serve his penalty, Stroll moved up to P6, Alonso P7. With just 20 laps to go the main positions were; Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, 1-2-3, Stroll 6th, Alonso 7th. Verstappen, on fresh tyres, managed to catch and pass Piastri on lap 42, while Norris dived into the pits again for fresh tyres and retained 3rd place, followed by Piastri, who came in for his first and only pit stop - both McLarens on fresh tyres now, in pursuit of Verstappen.
Stroll also came in for fresh tyres on lap 43, having accomplished a really long first stint, and came out 16th, which allowed Alonso to move up to 6th. Ocon briefly got to within a second of Alonso with just over 10 laps to go but Alonso was showing really strong pace on the hard tyres and by lap 50 pulled away more than a second ahead of Ocon. Stroll, on his fresh rubber, was also demonstrating good pace and gained a place, so that it was Alonso in P6, Stroll P15. Stroll continued his progress – first Hadjar pitted, then he passed Tsunoda on lap 53 and then overtook Sainz. If he could just pass one more driver he’d secure a point for himself and for the team – which he accomplished on lap 56, when he passed Bortoleto for 10th place and was able to claim the point. Alonso maintained his pace through to the chequered flag and took P6 as well as 8 Championship points.
At the front, although Verstappen won the race by 12.6 seconds from Piastri, a very emotional Norris finished on the podium in 3rd place, thereby winning his maiden Drivers’ Championship by 2 just points. Well done Lando – we will see the number 1 on a new car next season.
Reaction and Comments
It was definitely a positive way to end the 2025 season as the team secured a double-points finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Alonso in P6 and Stroll securing P10. This came on top of Alonso coming 7th in Qatar just a week prior. These points ensured that the team finished the 2025 season in P7 in the Constructors’ standings, frustratingly just 3 points behind RB. After the race, Alonso summed up by saying, “It is great to finish the season with a strong P6 here in Abu Dhabi. Our race pace hasn't always matched our Qualifying recently, so a solid Sunday here feels very good. The team worked really hard in the last few months to achieve this final result, and now it's time to focus on 2026. There is not much break. Tomorrow, we are already at the factory, in the simulator, preparing for 2026. We are committed to a better year next year.” Stroll was equally buoyant, “It was a fun race, with some great overtakes and good strategy by the team today, and it's nice to pick up a point at the final race at Yas Marina Circuit. In hindsight, we could've maybe pitted a lap or two earlier and finished even further up in the points. This year has been a tough one for the team, we haven't been as competitive as we wanted to be, so finishing this season with a positive result and P7 in the Constructors' Championship is good.”
That's it for the 2025 season – the sport has a new World Champion and Aston Martin have a new team principal who has designed a brand new car for 2026, so there could be plenty to look forward to. Until the new season starts (in about 2 months factoring in pre-season testing) may I thank you for reading and expressing support and wishing all readers and Aston Martin fans a very Happy Christmas and all the best for 2026.