Max Verstappen lost out to Lando Norris for the F1 Drivers’ World Championship by just two points, but was he too ‘well-behaved’ in the final race of the season?
Verstappen cruised to victory in Sunday’s final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, beating Oscar Piastri by 12.5 seconds, but was decisively denied a fifth consecutive drivers’ title as Norris took the necessary third place for championship glory.
Many expected the Red Bull driver to deliberately drive slowly from the front to force Norris to make a mistake, and afterwards in the cool-down room Piastri directly asked, “Why don’t you want everyone to back up?”
This was a tactic used by Lewis Hamilton in a similar title race in 2016, when he deliberately slowed down on the final lap to try to pass championship rival Nico Rosberg from the driver behind him.
Rosberg himself worked as a Sky Sports F1 analyst for the 2025 Desert Decider and was certainly expecting a similar move from Verstappen.
“They were very well behaved today,” he said.
“I was expecting them to back up a little bit more early on and try some more tricks.
“Or at least to try it out at some point and see if it works or not?”
The obvious moment when Verstappen adopted this tactic was on lap 42, when Piastri pitted from second place and was 24 seconds behind the Dutchman on track.
This could have caused Verstappen to stop to change tires and move into the lead, just ahead of Piastri and Norris, before dropping back to Charles Leclerc in fourth and George Russell in fifth.
However, Verstappen chose to maintain a large lead, hoping some bad luck would affect the following McLaren.
Red Bull explains why Verstappen couldn’t make it to the field
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Verstappen irritated by journalists’ questions at post-race press conference
Asked about his decision after the race, he said that McLaren’s decision to start Piastri on hard tires and Ferrari’s two stops for Leclerc made it very difficult to back up.
“I had a lot of scenarios in my head,” Verstappen said.
“But when I saw the tires Oscar had on the car, I knew it would be quite difficult.
“We were probably a little too fast up front and the other teams didn’t follow that well. Charles did his best to get on the podium, so that was also impressive to watch.”
“But they chose two stops, which made things even more complicated, because if you keep backing everything up with one stop, it becomes difficult.”
“The new layout around here makes it even more difficult to do that compared to 2016.”
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull bosses later admitted they had discussed using this tactic, but felt it would put Verstappen at risk of losing the wins he needed to have a chance at the championship.
“It was possible, but we didn’t think it was the right option for us,” Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said.
“If we do that, we would be giving up a pretty big advantage.
“We did not think that using tactics would give us an advantage in the situation we were in, so we chose not to participate in order to make the most of the advantage we had and focus on winning the race.
“We can’t control what’s behind us. We discussed the options but stuck to our plan.”
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admitted the tactic was rendered ineffective by McLaren’s surprising decision to split tire strategy between Norris and Piastri at the start.
“It was a very smart move on their part. It gave them a lot of options, which we didn’t expect,” he explained.
“They made a smart move to put Piastri on the hard tires. That’s why we couldn’t unite the whole field because the benefit would have been on Piastri’s side.”
“It wasn’t enough. It was one Red Bull versus two McLarens and unfortunately we were hoping that Leclerc and Russell would have more speed, but that wasn’t the case.”
“The problem was that Ferrari and Mercedes weren’t strong enough.”
Was McLaren wise to negate Red Bull’s option?
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Was McLaren wise to allow Piastri to chase Verstappen on hard tires after passing Norris on the first lap?
Red Bull’s options ultimately appear to have been thwarted by a smart pre-race strategic decision by McLaren, whose drivers started the race in second and third place behind Verstappen.
Not only did they split tire strategy with Norris on medium and Piastri on hard, but they also made sure that Norris didn’t hold back against his teammate, who also had a chance at the title, as he passed him on the opening lap.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted he made his expectations clear to the drivers in a phone call hours before the race.
“There were multiple conversations this weekend with our drivers,” he told Sky Sports.
“We knew there was a chance of a change of places on the first lap and we didn’t want to prevent that, but we talked about playing it even more safely than usual.
“I think it was a very safe maneuver. It was fun to put Oscar on the hard tires and chase Max.”
“This also benefited Rand to some extent.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown added that he knew it would be difficult for Verstappen to back up the field in Abu Dhabi.
“There’s no chance of doing that, because the approaching cars are much faster and there’s a double DRS straight,” he said.
“To play the game you have to do things that are not the way we race, and you don’t see that at McLaren.”
Tsunoda’s tactics infuriate McLaren manager
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Norris went off the track while passing Tsunoda.
However, Brawn was frustrated by Red Bull’s tactics of Verstappen’s teammate Hiroki Tsunoda starting on hard tyres, going the distance and trying to slow Norris down after his first pit stop.
In the end, Tsunoda was given a five-second penalty for forcing Norris off the track on lap 23, but Tsunoda managed to avoid it and win his first world title.
“That was a dangerous and unnecessary action,” Brawn told Sky Sports F1.
“This is a team sport so I’m not surprised that the second car helps, but I think there has to be a limit.
“But I think they (the team) are crossing the line because they’re not driving the car, so I think they have to put that car on Yuki.”
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, including the Australian Grand Prix from March 6-8. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
