The final weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season taught us plenty, both about the three title protagonists and those who went under the radar.
Here's everything we learned from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.
Norris proved himself wrong
New F1 champion Lando Norris went into remarkable depth during multiple media engagements after sealing the title.
But arguably the most telling revelation was that his comeback in the 2025 title race surprised even himself.
And he said that specifically in the context of having "made some mistakes, some bad judgements" early in the season - perhaps most notably his qualifying crash in Saudi Arabia, where he had looked fastest until that point, and hitting Piastri and retiring in Canada - a moment where "I embarrassed myself".
Those, he said, left him with doubts about his own capabilities - ones that his revival in the final quarter of the season dispelled.
"I made my errors, as I'm sure every driver would admit to," said Norris, who was 34 points back in the title race with nine rounds to go.
"But how I managed to turn all of that and have the second half of the season that I had is what makes me very proud: that I've been able to prove myself wrong.
"There were doubts I had in the beginning of the year, and I proved myself wrong. And that's something that makes me very happy." - Jack Cozens
Verstappen is happier now than when he was champion
Championship runner-up Max Verstappen claims he's actually more content now than when he won his fourth title one year ago, thanks to Red Bull's turnaround in form.
"It's always nicer to win it. But, honestly, I'm sitting here now with probably a better feeling than what I had last year at this time because the second half of last year was pretty tricky at times as well," Verstappen said.
"We have been struggling for, I would say, a year: the second half of last year and the first half of this year. But I actually feel a lot better now. Of course, a shame to miss out on the title, but at the same time for a long period of time I was not even thinking about the title. I never felt like I was in it until a few rounds ago.
"You take your pride in different ways. I'm happy with myself and going into next year, I'm not in a state of having to worry about my skills or whatever. I feel good."
Verstappen has ended the year with a car capable of winning most races, versus 2024 when his brilliance had to paper over the cracks of that Red Bull package to get that title over the line. - Josh Suttill
McLaren stuck to Piastri promise
In the end, a flat race came nowhere near producing the kind of swing that Oscar Piastri needed to be world champion.
But McLaren still stuck to its promise of giving him every opportunity to win the race and jump team-mate Norris - despite so much criticism of late about allegedly trying to hold Piastri back.
After qualifying behind he was clear to attack and pass Norris on the first lap, which he did. And he did so while committing to a different strategy by starting on hards.
Both things - racing Norris instead of holding position, and diverging on strategy - were obviously done because they potentially helped Norris as much as hindered him. But the single-most-straightforward way for McLaren to play this race was to remove Piastri from contention as much as possible and it didn't.
It was the bare minimum McLaren owed him, but it was still important to see. Even if the events of the race meant it never had to deal with the most awkward possible circumstances of having to order Piastri to let Norris by to be champion. - Scott Mitchell-Malm
Hamilton wants to disappear this winter
No one on the grid was as despondent throughout 2025 as Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari honeymoon ended very early this season, and Hamilton hit low after low...
He wants to hit the ground running next year, but it's not like Hamilton will be rushing back to Maranello to start his assault on 2026 early.
Although he said he felt "pretty fresh", after ending the season finale with an eighth place, follow-up answers implied otherwise.
"I've said all I can about this season already so there's not really much more to add to it. Just move forward," he began.
Then he added: "No one's going to be able to get hold of me this winter. I won't have my phone with me, I'm looking forward to that. I'll just be completely unplugged from the matrix."
And that's almost unprecedented for Hamilton.
"I've generally always had it [my phone] but this time it's going in the fricking bin.
"I can't wait to get away from all this, you know, every week. Photoshoots and all that kind of stuff, just...that's the thing I look forward to one day, not having to do it all,” he said.
Just don't take that as a sign that he wants to retire.
Prodded - unfairly - about an ex-F1 driver supposedly suggesting he should retire (the F1 driver in question did not say that), Hamilton rebutted: "I wouldn't say anything to them. None of them have done what I've done, so, they're not on my level."
Just a much-needed reset. - SK
A 'terrible' end to a great year
Isack Hadjar's crash on the formation lap of the season opener instantly sparked consternation: was this Formula 2 promotion the right choice, and would he make it through the season?
The debutant absolutely silenced those worries over the rest of the season, clinching 51 points to Liam Lawson's 38, and earning a Red Bull call-up for 2026. And Racing Bulls secured sixth in the championship, its highest finish of this rules era, with Hadjar scoring more points alone than the team had managed last year.
A successful season by any definition, but a 17th-place finish in Abu Dhabi, one lap down, still badly stung…
"It's just a tough end to the championship. We should have been sixth last weekend and today we were starting in the points, but it just feels terrible to finish the season like this," said Hadjar on Sunday.
Asked about his season being positive, he added: "Enough to get promoted, I guess. Of course there's positives, but I'm a bit sad to end it that way."
It's that kind of self-criticism and constant push for better that makes Hadjar-to-Red Bull such an exciting move. - Samarth Kanal
Williams got a big winter wake-up call
Carlos Sainz embodied the bronze medal podium meme with his Qatar podium celebration. Understandably so; who would have seen such a breakthrough coming in his debut Williams season?
That jubilation was well and truly dashed by the time the chequered flag flew in Abu Dhabi, though.
Sainz didn't mince his words after starting 12th and finishing 13th on Sunday, with team-mate Alex Albon having an even worse weekend to end up 16th.
"We just did everything we could do to finish in the points, but there was just simply not enough pace this weekend, which I hope serves as a good wake-up call to the team, in case after a podium, you come back to Abu Dhabi thinking you’re going to be strong…" Sainz said.
"I'm actually happy that this happened, so we go into the winter without falling asleep."
Yet he acknowledged that his move to Williams - which secured its best constructors' championship finish, of fifth, in nine years - was vindicated by how he finished the campaign.
"In the second half I think I…proved to everyone why we made this switch, what are we trying to achieve here, and why we are a force now to be reckoned [with] for the future.
"If you had told me last year that I would have scored those podiums [in Baku, as well as Qatar, plus in the US GP sprint race] and be P5 in the constructors' like we are, I would have taken it."
But a poor Abu Dhabi weekend will at least ensure Williams keeps its feet on the ground after largely smashing the midfield in 2025. - SK
Two drivers 'miffed' over weaving penalties
The racing rules once again drew bafflement but for a new reason, as Yuki Tsunoda and Ollie Bearman each copped five-second penalties and one penalty point for making more than one change of direction in defence against Norris and Lance Stroll (who also received a penalty for the same offence) respectively.
The guidelines state that breaking the slipstream is OK, but making "more than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted". Furthermore, they state that drivers moving back onto the racing line should "leave at least one car width between [their] own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner".
"Of course, I was moving to defend my position, but I moved to break the tow, which is one separate thing, and then I defended my position. I left Lance space," said Bearman.
"I'm miffed as much as you guys are," he added, before making a swift exit.
Tsunoda called his penalty "very harsh" and accidentally let out an expletive during his take on the situation.
Also penalised was Lawson - who acknowledged that he was to blame for his weaving infringement against Bearman. - SK
