The Leader, The Machine, or The Observer: Who will take the title at this weekend's finale at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

What happened at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix?

Qatar should have been Oscar's weekend. Fastest in FP1, fastest in sprint qualifying, fastest in the sprint, fastest in qualifying, and fastest in the race. Yet, he now sits third in the championship. As he put it, "speechless. Absolutely speechless."

Well, there are definitely things to say. For one, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly just pulled off the biggest move of the season...for Max. The best driver each in the worst two cars of the season fought intensely for the first seven laps of the main race in Qatar, and then suddenly had a huge crash. Hulkenberg couldn't move and had to retire, and Gasly took major damage and dropped far out of the points, though he was eventually able to finish the race.

Another factor for last weekend's results was the absurd amount of tyre wear in Qatar because of the conditions. The track is literally in a desert, and in turn, the FIA limited every tyre stint to 25 laps, no matter which type of tyre. So, in a 57 lap race, that means a potential 7-25-25 with two mandatory pit stops, and when the virtual safety car was deployed on lap seven, Max immediately pitted his Red Bull. Then, the entire field followed him in for a tyre change...except for McLaren. Owner turned team principal Zak Brown told his drivers to keep calm and that they had the better strategy than Max, but doubts set in when championship leader Lando Norris saw Verstappen in his rearview mirror while still under the safety car.

Max then kept pace with the McLarens with fresher tyres and a pit stop in hand before Norris and then Piastri pitted on laps 24 and 25 respectively, putting them far behind Verstappen and with ground to make up. Every driver then pitted one more time and the McLarens gained ground on fresher tires, but ultimately, Lando could only finish fourth and Oscar second, meaning the former's gap heading into Abu Dhabi is only 12 to Max and 16 to his teammate.

FP1 and FP2 Breakdown

In my opinion, there is really only one thing to take away from Free Practice One in Abu Dhabi. With the large amount of F2 and reserve drivers taking over cars in the session, nine of the twenty to be exact, there wasn't much competition between teammates and many drivers weren't to be found on the grid. Most notable was the absence of championship contender Oscar Piastri, whose car was driven by McLaren reserve driver and IndyCar runner-up Pato O'Ward. Next year's VCARB rookie Arvid Lindblad finished 15th and just under eight tenths off of the leader, and the nine rookies took up nine of the last ten spots on the grid, with only Haas's Ryo Hirakawa finishing a spot above the newest Red Bull promotee Isack Hadjar. Anyway, the main takeaway is that Charles Leclerc's car doesn't look completely undriveable, which is great news for Max Verstappen, who will need at least one non-McLaren to finish on the podium besides himself if he wants to win the championship.

FP2 was the first session of the weekend to feature all of the drivers that will be participating in the main race, and Lando Norris topped by over three tenths (bad news for everyone else). Ollie Bearman looked amazing in P4 and praised his car after his flying lap, Kick Sauber placed Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoletto in P5 and P6, and Hadjar jumped back up to P7. Oscar Piastri was a very lackluster P11 in his first session of the weekend, and Williams and Alpine were the teams to fail to put a driver in the top half.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - I think the most likely outcome for this race is that Max does his part for his championship hopes and wins this race. He has a good record and great memories in Abu Dhabi and has won the last two races.

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - Lando looks the faster of the two McLarens this weekend and topped the first two practice sessions. He must stand on the podium this weekend to absolutely guarantee his first championship, and it looks like he will take the title.

   
   

3. George Russell (Mercedes) - With Oscar Piastri way off the pace this weekend, it seems like we'll get a non-McLaren and non-Max car on the podium. Russell has looked very quick around Yas Marina so far.

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - Yuki goes out with a bang. I don't know if he'll score big. I don't even know if he'll score. But he'll do something.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - Antonelli finally takes P6. Antonelli has had the momentum on his side for months, and Hamilton looks terrible in the Ferrari. I think the Italian can score the three points needed to move up.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Haas back to P7. The American outfit sits only seven points adrift of Aston Martin after last week's disappointment, but if Ollie Bearman's car is as good all weekend as he says it is, then they could jump to P7 at the final time of asking.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - A new man in P8. It has been a very, very, very long time since we've had somebody not named Alex Albon in P8 in the drivers' championship. But, with the Thai scoreless in full races since Monza and his teammate on a roll, Sainz may finally displace Albon for P8 to win the Williams battle.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - For a second week straight, Lando.

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Championship Chaos, Lando's Legacy, and more ahead of the season-defining 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

What happened at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix?

The 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix was, as expected, championship defining.

To start, Max Verstappen took home yet another Grand Prix victory and won his second full race in the United States this season. He took the lead from Norris in the first corner and held his ground throughout the night to take the checkered flag at the front of the grid. Lando Norris came home second after retaking P2 from George Russell early on in the race, but his car began to fail in the waning corners of the race. He was able to hold on to P2 through the final sector, with Mercedes's Englishman rounding out the podium.

Then, hours after the race, breaking news. McLaren's skid blocks had worn out too much, resulting in a double disqualification. Yep, a couple of milimeters of skid block may decide this year's championship. Verstappen sat 39 points behind Norris at the end of the Grand Prix, and now is even with Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri only 24 points behind the championship lead with two races and a sprint to go.

With the double DQ, Russell moved up to P2 and teenage teammate Kimi Antonelli bolted up to P3 to secure back-to-back podiums. Rookies Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman scored points for Racing Bulls and Haas respectively, and seven teams were able to score points on the weekend thanks to McLaren's error, namely Ferrari, Kick Sauber, Red Bull, Mercedes, Racing Bulls, Williams, and the Haas duo that moved from P11 and P12 to P9 and P10.

FP1 Breakdown

Free Practice One in Qatar was an intriguing session as all twenty drivers took to the track for the only data collection period before Sprint Qualifying later this afternoon. The main storyline was McLaren's return, as they took P1 and P2 in the session after last weekend's disaster in Vegas. Norris was only 58 hundreths off of his teammate, and was almost three tenths faster than P3.

Williams and Aston Martin were also able to place both of their drivers in the top ten of FP1 with Alonso in third, Sainz in fourth, Albon in seventh, and Stroll in ninth. Both teams have seriously struggled in the past few race weekends, so we'll see if either team can capitalize the strong practice results into points in Qatar.

Elsewhere, Isack Hadjar had about a one second gap over teammate Liam Lawson, and so did Pierre Gasly over a lackluster Franco Colapinto who floated over 2.5 seconds behind Oscar Piastri.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix:

Qatar Sprint

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - Piastri looks primed to get his first victory anywhere since Zandvoort, and McLaren look to be excellent in Qatar's tyre wear conditions.

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - Similarly, Lando Norris looks to be very quick in Qatar and will hope to capitalize this weekend to knock his fellow contenders out of the Championship.

   
   

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - Max Verstappen's car may not be as quick, but he is the quickest driver on the grid at the moment. You never know.

Qatar Grand Prix

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) - Finally. Champion. To seal the deal, Norris should feel he has to win the main race. If he does so, his odds of a championship are extremely high.

   
   

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - Max's only way of staying in the fight if Lando wins the grand prix is to finish second, but he would also need to outscore the championship leader by six points in the sprint. That won't happen if Lando is careful.

   
   

3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - He may not be in the championship fight anymore with a third place finish and his teammate taking the checkered flag, but at least Oscar would sit on a podium.

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - A McLaren driver wins the sprint. It's looking very likely that McLaren is dominant this weekend, and especially in a short race where tyre wear will play a major factor in determining speed, they should feel ready to take the checkered flag with one of two drivers.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - Rookie scores. I feel like this one kinda has to happen, and I'm out of ideas.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Constructors' changeover. Haas, Aston Martin, and Kick Sauber sit five points apart for the P7 battle. Something will change in that order this week.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Mercedes seal second in the constructors'. I'll say it again. Mercedes should take P2 in the constructors' championship this weekend. All they need is to outscore Red Bull by four and for Ferrari to not outscore them by ten. Yes, Red Bull may have Max Verstappen, but Mercedes has two drivers capable of scoring points.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Lando.

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Lando Locked, Flying Dutchman's Final Gasp, Mercedes v Red Bull v Ferrari, and more ahead of the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

What happened at the 2025 Sao Paolo Grand Prix?

The Sao Paolo Grand Prix will forever be known as Max Verstappen's stomping ground.

That's what almost everyone who tuned into this year's race at Interlagos had to say after watching the Flying Dutchman arguably topped one his best performance of all time at last year's Sao Paolo Grand Prix. Verstappen's weekend looked to be over on Saturday after he followed teammate Yuki Tsunoda out in a shock Q1 exit. Then, the FIA announced that Verstappen would instead be starting from the pit lane after an engine change.

Max channeled his 2024 Interlagos self and rose from a pit lane start to race leader on the 51st lap. If not for his pit on lap 54 when he was about ten seconds ahead of 2nd placed Lando Norris, he may have even won the race, marking by far his best race and potentially the best individual performance in F1 history. Verstappen instead pitted on lap 54 to new softs to avoid losing further ground to Norris and Kimi Antonelli, gaining back up to P3 to go from pit lane to podium in dry conditions. Max is known to be especially great in wet conditions compared to the rest of the field, so the fact that he was able to accomplish this level of position gain during a dry race with a car that went out in Q1 is astonishing.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris came home quietly to take his second consecutive win and extend his lead in the drivers' champoinship to 24 points over teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris is now also 49 points ahead of Verstappen and can eliminate the Red Bull driver if he outscores him by ten points in this weekend's race.

Elsewhere, Mercedes rookie Antonelli finished a career-high second and Haas rookie Ollie Bearman followed up his fourth place with a sixth in Brazil. Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly were both able to score for Kick Sauber and Alpine, with Gasly's point being the first in a full race in over four months. Williams, Aston Martin, and Ferrari all went scoreless, with Ferrari double DNFing after Leclerc's unfortunate collision with Piastri and Antonelli and Hamilton sustaining terminal damage after a crash with Franco Colapinto.

In the sprint, Norris took the win with Antonelli second and George Russell third, completing a double podium for Mercedes. Piastri didn't finish, giving Norris eight more points in his buffer over the Australian in the drivers' championship. Home hero Gabriel Bortoleto DNFed in both the sprint and full race, and will hope for a much better performance at home in his sophomore season in 2026.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix:

Las Vegas Grand Prix

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - The Red Bull looks extremely quick, and it seems like it's Verstappen's race to lose. He was unstoppable in free practice, so he should be primed for a much better qualifying this weekend.

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - McLaren's car isn't too far off, and Norris has won the last two races. He's in form, and it seems like only Max can match him. It was a dissapointing FP3, though.

   
   

3. George Russell (Mercedes) - Mercedes went 1-2 last year in Vegas, and while that seems impossible to repeat, the car tends to perform well in colder settings. Russell is due for a redeeming result, and the defending Vegas winner will be back on the podium.

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - No driver is eliminated from the drivers' championship. The only way this is possible is if Lando Norris outscores Max Verstappen by ten points or more, which shouldn't occur this weekend.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - Williams finally score. The fifth-placed team in the constructors' shouldn't be struggling to score a single point. Neither Albon nor Sainz has scored in a full race in over a month, and the free practice sessions indicated that trend likely won't continue.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Alpine again. Alpine didn't score a single time between Silverstone and Interlagos. Then, Pierre Gasly scored not only during the sprint, but in the race. It may have only been a total of two points, but the back-markers will take any signs of encouragement they can get.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Mercedes on the brink. Not exactly a prediction, but it has its implications. Mercedes can't technically do this points-wise anytime soon, but if they further the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari this weekend, the Silver Arrows should be shoo-ins.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - No rookies in the top five. This is extremely unlikely. It may not seem that way, but we technically have six rookies and it has been multiple months since all of them missed the top five. Bearman, Antonelli, Hadjar, Lawson, Colapinto, and Bortoleto all must perform poorly.