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"Not the ending I wished for": Piastri loses out on F1 title
SENZ • December 8th, 2025 8:44 am
In his own words, it was “not quite the ending he wished for” but Oscar Piastri said he is proud of the season he produced after finishing second in Abu Dhabi and third in the drivers’ championship.
The Australian went into the weekend needing the stars to align if he was a hope of claiming a maiden title with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen also in contention.
Ultimately his second place finish at the season finale was not enough to leap frog his two rivals with Norris being crowned the 2025 champion, beating Verstappen by two points and Piastri by 13.
“Honestly, pretty good. I knew that going into today I needed the stars to align to win the championship,” Piastri said.
“Ultimately, I tried my best and put myself in the best position I could to try and win the race and give myself the best opportunity, but it wasn’t to be. I think we can be very proud of the season we’ve had.
“On a personal level, it’s obviously not quite the ending that I wished for but I think when you look at the season as a whole, I’m very proud of the work that I’ve been able to put in and my team have been able to put in to make so much progress from last year. I’m looking forward to plenty more fights in the future.”
Plenty had been said before the race about team orders and whether McLaren would honour “papaya rules” given the threat Verstappen posed to Norris and the very real possibility of both drivers missing out on the title.
Piastri overtook Norris on the opening lap of the race but he didn’t have the speed to match Verstappen.
Opting to focus on the positives, Piastri was pleased to have rediscovered his form in the final few races – even if McLaren had endured some nightmare strategic errors.
A double disqualification in las Vegas last month as well as a disastrous missed opportunity of a safety car pit stop in Qatar meant the team missed out on vital points. But it all came good in Abu Dhabi with McLaren celebrating the drivers championship and the constructors’.
“It is nice to end the last couple of weekends on a relative high, certainly from a performance point of view,” Piastri added. “I guess individually it was nice to find some form again because it would have been pretty painful to end it on the note that Austin, Mexico and Brazil kind of went to.
“Ultimately, there were ups and downs through the year. I’ll look back on the ups with a lot of pride and joy, and look on the downs with plenty of lessons learned. There are plenty more years left to go and hopefully plenty more opportunities.”
Zak Brown, who has divided opinion throughout the season and been widely criticised for his treatment of Piastri, hailed the 24-year-old’s performance.
“He is a future world champion,” Brown says. “Both our guys won seven races, drove brilliantly, they supported each other.
“It’s a cruel sport how some things don’t go your way when they’re out of your control, but I’m excited to go racing with him.”
HOW THE TITLE RACE FINISHED
1 Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 423pts2 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 421pts3 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 410pts4 George Russell (GB) Mercedes 319pts5 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 242pts6 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari 156pts7 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes 150pts8 Alexander Albon (Thai) Williams 73pts9 Carlos Sainz (Sp) Williams 64pts10 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Aston Martin 56pts
HOW THEY FINISHED IN ABU DHABI
- Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 1:26:07.469
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren +12.59sec
- Lando Norris (GB) McLaren +16.57s
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari +48.56s
- George Russell (GB) Mercedes +23.28s
- Fernando Alonso (Sp) Aston Martin +1:07.56
- Esteban Ocon (Fr) Haas +1:09.88
- Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari +1:12.67
- Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Sauber +1:19.01
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin +1:19.52
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Kick Sauber +1:21.04
- Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas +1:21.17
- Carlos Sainz (Sp) Williams +1:22.158
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull +1:23.79
- Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes +1:24.40
- Alexander Albon (Thai) Williams +1:30.33
- Isack Hadjar (Fr) RacingBulls + 1 lap
- Liam Lawson (NZ) RacingBulls + 1 lap
- Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine + 1 lap
- Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine + 1 lap
