Max Verstappen Wins Abu Dhabi But Says ‘I Have No Regrets’ After Losing 2025 F1 Title

Under the Yas Marina floodlights on Sunday night, Max Verstappen did exactly what he needed to do. He took pole, controlled the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the front and signed off 2025 with the kind of commanding victory that has defined his era. It still wasn’t enough. Lando Norris’ measured run to third place was all McLaren’s new star needed to clinch his first world championship by just two points, leaving Verstappen’s quest for a record‑equalling fifth straight title agonisingly short. Yet when the dust settled on one of the most intense finales Formula 1 has staged in years, Verstappen was adamant he would not replay the season in his head searching for what he might have done differently. “I have no regrets about my season,” he told reporters after the race, reflecting on a campaign in which he won more races than any other driver but was denied the crown at the final hurdle. “Of course, [it’s 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. That’s pretty crazy. But, yeah, you take your pride in different ways.” [Source: https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/no-regrets-verstappen-despite-title-defeat-2025-12-07/] ## A title decider that went the distance Abu Dhabi hosted its first championship decider since 2021, and for the first time since 2010 three drivers arrived at the finale with a shot at the crown. Norris led the standings on 408 points, Verstappen trailed by 12, and Oscar Piastri was a further four back. McLaren had already wrapped up the constructors’ title, but the drivers’ battle remained on a knife‑edge. [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Abu_Dhabi_Grand_Prix] The permutations were simple enough for Norris: finish on the podium and he was champion regardless of what Verstappen or Piastri did. For Verstappen, victory was essential and he needed Norris to slip to fourth or lower; Piastri’s path demanded a win and a bigger stumble from his team‑mate. [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Abu_Dhabi_Grand_Prix] Verstappen struck the first blow in qualifying, taking his eighth pole of the season – more than any other driver in 2025 – with a blistering 1m22.207s lap. It also extended his record of Abu Dhabi poles to five, tying Lewis Hamilton for the most at Yas Marina. Norris joined him on the front row, with Piastri third, setting the stage for a straight‑fight shootout between the championship protagonists. [Source: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/facts-and-stats-verstappen-hunts-down-fifth-title-as-he-ends-the-season-with.2TW39QXyR0DaeIjlMtKWLT] On Sunday, Verstappen converted that advantage with what Autosport described as a “vintage, serene drive” to victory. He led 58 laps, managing the pace on a one‑stop strategy and with Oscar Piastri – rather than Norris – providing the main pressure after McLaren split tyre choices between its drivers. Piastri, who started on the hard compound, ran long before bolting on mediums for a late charge, trimming the winning margin to 12.6 seconds but never truly threatening the Red Bull. [Source: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-abu-dhabi-gp-norris-wins-world-title-as-verstappen-takes-race-victory/10783108/] The official timing told the story: Verstappen first, Piastri second, Norris third, followed by Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Fernando Alonso. It was Verstappen’s eighth win of the year, more than champion Norris or Piastri could manage, and capped a run of 10 straight podiums. [Sources: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1276/abu-dhabi/race-result, https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/no-regrets-verstappen-despite-title-defeat-2025-12-07/] ## Norris plays the percentages, Verstappen runs out of road For all Verstappen’s dominance at the front, the 2025 title was really decided a few seconds further back. Norris’ brief in the cockpit was brutally simple: stay on the podium. That meant managing risk, not chasing Verstappen for a race win he did not need. He did exactly that. After losing second to Piastri on the opening lap, Norris had to endure heavy pressure from Leclerc’s Ferrari during the first stint, then navigate a frantic middle phase as strategy and traffic threatened to muddy the picture. His overtake on Yuki Tsunoda, who had been told to “do what you can” to delay the McLaren in aid of Verstappen’s title push, was one of the day’s flashpoints; Tsunoda’s weaving earned him a penalty, while Norris escaped without sanction and pressed on to secure P3 and the championship. [Source: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-abu-dhabi-gp-norris-wins-world-title-as-verstappen-takes-race-victory/10783108/] Motorsport.com’s “winners and losers” column summed up the dynamic bluntly: “Verstappen may be the driver of the year with what he did in the Red Bull, but that doesn't make Norris' maiden title any less deserved.” On the day, it added, the Dutchman was “the loser… because he comes two points short to take an astonishing fifth world title”, but his late‑season surge and Abu Dhabi win underlined the scale of his effort. [Source: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/winners-and-losers-from-a-title-deciding-f1-abu-dhabi-gp/10783267/] ## ‘I have no regrets’ – Verstappen’s best season yet? If there was any expectation that Verstappen would emerge bitter from such a narrow defeat, his words and demeanour in the immediate aftermath told a more complex story. Asked directly whether 2025 had been the best he had ever driven, the Red Bull driver did not hesitate. “Yeah, I think so,” he said. “I mean, I have no regrets about my season… 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.” [Source: https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/no-regrets-verstappen-despite-title-defeat-2025-12-07/] That sentiment was echoed – with a sharper edge – in a separate media session picked up by Speedcafe, when a journalist suggested that his clash with George Russell in Spain, which cost him points after a penalty, had effectively decided the championship. “You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season, the only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that would come,” Verstappen replied, before pointedly telling the reporter: “You’re giving me a stupid grin now.” [Source: https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-abu-dhabi-max-verstappen-reaction-championship-loss-race-win-journalist-question-snap-angry-regret/] Pressed to look beyond individual flashpoints, Verstappen chose instead to highlight the breadth of Red Bull’s fightback. Having sunk to 104 points behind after his home race at Zandvoort, he reeled off six wins in the final nine grands prix and scored more victories overall than any of his rivals. “A championship is won over 24 rounds,” he said. “We could have also very easily given up at that point, when you’re that far behind. The turnaround has been fun, and today has been fun.” [Source: https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-abu-dhabi-max-verstappen-reaction-championship-loss-race-win-journalist-question-snap-angry-regret/] Ultimately, though, the numbers explain why he can walk away with his head high. Eight wins, 10 consecutive podiums to end the season and a charge that turned what looked like a write‑off campaign into a title showdown that went all the way to the chequered flag. As Reuters noted, he ended the year feeling “better” than he had 12 months earlier, despite being denied a fifth crown. [Source: https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/no-regrets-verstappen-despite-title-defeat-2025-12-07/] ## Red Bull’s rollercoaster and the road to 2026 The context behind Verstappen’s stance is crucial. Red Bull started 2025 on the back foot, wrestling with an inconsistent RB21 and internal upheaval following the mid‑season exit of long‑time team principal Christian Horner. Under new leadership, the team gradually recalibrated its approach around Verstappen’s feedback, finding a more predictable operating window for a car that initially seemed to have slipped behind McLaren and Mercedes. [Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1088084/1/why-max-verstappen-doesnt-view-f1-title-defeat-lando-norris-losing] “I think we’ve had a rollercoaster of a year, especially in the beginning,” Verstappen told Sky Sports, as relayed by Crash.net. “How we have turned it around and the results we have achieved after having tough times… is not easy. The team has really showed they never give up… It just shows that the team is really united. They’re fighters and it’s something I really enjoyed.” [Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1088084/1/why-max-verstappen-doesnt-view-f1-title-defeat-lando-norris-losing] That unity, he said, is why he does not see losing the title to Norris as a personal failure. “I don’t even see it as like losing, to be honest,” he added. “At the end it doesn’t matter if you finish behind by one point, 10 points or 20 points. You’re behind. It’s two points at the end, but it’s been cool. I’ve been enjoying it.” [Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1088084/1/why-max-verstappen-doesnt-view-f1-title-defeat-lando-norris-losing] Inside the Red Bull camp, there was still an acknowledgement of the hurt. Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko admitted that “two points… that hurts,” even as he called Norris “a worthy world champion” and praised the scale of Red Bull’s recovery. [Source: https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-abu-dhabi-max-verstappen-reaction-championship-loss-race-win-journalist-question-snap-angry-regret/] Verstappen, for his part, was already looking forward. He will revert from the champion’s #1 back to his familiar #33 next season, but insisted the defeat had not dented his confidence with major technical rule changes looming in 2026. “I’m happy with myself and also into next year I’m not in a state of having to worry about my skills or whatever,” he said. “So I feel good.” [Source: https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-abu-dhabi-max-verstappen-reaction-championship-loss-race-win-journalist-question-snap-angry-regret/] ## Legacy secure – and motivation renewed In the immediate aftermath of Abu Dhabi 2025, the spotlight quite rightly belongs to Norris, McLaren and a first British drivers’ champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2020. But Verstappen’s drive to win the race, and his reaction to losing the war, will echo through the paddock long after the champagne has dried on the Yas Marina pit straight. This was not a champion melting down under pressure or lashing out at perceived injustices. Aside from one spiky exchange over Barcelona, Verstappen congratulated Norris warmly – greeting him with a hug and a smile as the new champion climbed from his McLaren – and chose to frame 2025 as something close to a personal best, rather than a failure. [Source: https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/no-regrets-verstappen-despite-title-defeat-2025-12-07/] For a driver who has already rewritten so many of Formula 1’s records, that mindset may matter as much as the points table. He did everything he could in Abu Dhabi. He left with the winner’s trophy, not the world championship. And still, as he packed up on Sunday night, Max Verstappen insisted there was nothing he wished he had done differently. No regrets – and, if his late‑season form is any guide, no intention of going quietly in 2026 either.