Champion Of The World! | Abu Dhabi GP 2025 Debrief

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Hello, and welcome to a very special, The Fast and the Curious, post Abu Dhabi

Grand Prix debrief with me, Greg James, and him, Christian Hugo. In Abu Dhabi,

he's currently in the United Arab Emirates. Christian Hugo, welcome.

Greg, thank you. It is a joy to be here. Sat. I can see the circuit in the distance

across the marina, and there is lots of partying and lights and atmosphere, and it's all very exciting.

Make sure you're subscribing on our YouTube channel and on the podcast feeds, because this is

the home of your previews and your debriefs and big driver interviews. We have that all

across the season, and what a season it's been. Christian, we have a new world champion,

and that world champion is Lando Norris. I actually think that our celebrations for Lando

were slightly more exciting than some of the ones we saw on the live coverage from Abu Dhabi.

It felt quite flat at times, aside from his wonderful post race interview

and the lovely one with Jensen Button. All the rest of it felt quite weird,

didn't it? Well, the cool-down room did, because yes, there was that moment where

everybody came in, and in the cool-down room, nobody really said anything.

And then that bloat walked in. Stefano Diminicali. Yes, CEO of Formula One.

Yeah, no, we don't just leave them alone a little bit. Leave them alone.

Tend to agree. But yes, it all felt a touch

flat in there, despite the fact we just crowned the world champion, because obviously,

I also think they were being quite respectful to each other of some people being very

disappointed and all of that. And let's be honest, the reason it felt a little flat was

because the race wasn't spectacular. And for McLaren, that is the best possible scenario.

There's been all the drama that we've spoken about in terms of the disqualifications in Vegas,

the **** up of strategies in Qatar, and the fact that it all felt a little bit flat because

it was actually a little bit of an anticlimax in the end is perfect for McLaren, because,

well, that's exactly what they wanted. They wanted uneventful. They wanted, in Lando's case,

Lando to do enough. And that's exactly what happened. We wanted drama and safety cars and

ups and downs. McLaren wanted it to be just business as usual and just do what we need to do.

And that's exactly what they did. And yes, it meant that we got a little bit of a flat end

to the season in terms of the race. But what we do have is a brand new Formula One world

champion, Lando Norris. Yep. For the first time in four years, F1 has a brand new world champion.

We'll talk about Oscar. We'll talk about Max. We'll talk about Lando across this next half hour

or so. Can you give us the story of the race though? Because there was a lot of hype and I

was worried just before lights out that I'd hype myself up too much. And I was right to be

worried because actually it was a relatively dull race, apart from, I guess, the Yuki Sonoda moment

where there was a little bit of, oh my God, what is he doing? Lando, it's going to be okay. It's

going to be okay. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. That weaving from Yuki was

absolutely wild. But look, what is the story of that race today? I would agree with you.

A bit of a flat race in isolation. Obviously, the fact it's gone down to the end and

we've had three drivers who could win it is wonderful. The race itself a bit flat. Yes,

Greg, that was a moment of drama. The biggest moment of drama though. Off the line, everybody held

position. All fine. But Oscar sweeping round the outside of Lando at turn nine on lap one

was A, Jolien Palmer said it in commentary, the move of the season. Jolien said, I could

not agree more. Phenomenal, brave, skillful, precise overtaking from Oscar Piastri. When the

pressure is as high as you could possibly wish for it to be, Annie nailed it. And that's what I said

in the preview with Betty. All he needs to do is do everything he can. And from that moment on,

he did that. But it didn't matter in the end because Norris made his first stop shortly after

the Clare did, covered him off. Then Greg, there was the moment, as you said, when he was

battling with Yuki and Yuki made a couple of weaves on the straight, which now you can

say what you like about the rules or whether you like them by the rules. That is a penalty.

The penalty was given. As you said, Greg, the F1 world was tense going, is Lando going to be

given a penalty for moving off the track? That would have been extraordinarily harsh.

He didn't. Again, a bit later, Le Clare pitted for the second time. Lando immediately,

super strategy straight away, pitted to cover off any potential undercut.

Oscar Piastri stayed out. Max Verstappen didn't. Max ended up overtaking him anyway. And then

Oscar tried to hunt down Max at the end of the race, but it was too late. And as you said,

Greg, as we've said, fairly standard, fairly flat, fairly dull in terms of an individual

Grand Prix. The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will not go down in the history books. But what Will

is formula one has a brand new world champion, is a new Brit world champion. It is Lando, Norris.

And Greg, I have to say, I'm delighted for him. I absolutely am delighted for him.

How can we not be? How can we not be anything other than so excited for a brilliant man,

a British man, a talented racing driver, by all accounts, a great team player within that

McLaren unit as well. He's had to deal with this newcomer, Oscar Piastri, nipping at his heels.

He's had the outside noise of Max Verstappen and the fans and Lando fans and F1 fans going.

He hasn't got what it takes. He can't do it. He's had those races where he said to himself,

I don't know if I can do this. I'm not driving very well. I'm not very good. I can't do it.

He's overcome all the demons. He's overcome all the all the obstacles and kept his call today

in an amazing way. I thought I just I'm so thrilled for him because he is a great bloke.

Clearly, an amazing driver and the world champion. Statistically, this year, the best driver.

It's so exciting to see what happens now. What happens now with the boosting confidence that

gives you having a Christmas time, having a little break now as the world champion,

coming back next year with the rule changes. What happens now? This is exciting again.

This is exactly why we wanted to start this podcast. It's only taken three years for

us to make it exciting, and it's happened. Absolutely. Greg, you said there he was

overtaken by Oscar, and yes, he didn't beat Max Tepole, but he did what he needed to do. One

of those examples was the way he cut through the cars when he came out after the first start

with the traffic. He did everything he needed to do today. He kept his call in an unbelievably

high pressure situation when you arrive in a Grand Prix weekend as the points leader.

We'll get into all of that, but Gregory, before we do, should we go through the top 10?

Yes, we'll do the top 10. Just before we move on to the top 10, as you were saying there,

in a way, having options, having a buffer of like, well, you'll win the title if you get

first, second, or third is kind of a nightmare. You almost want it to be, you have to finish

in this position to win the title because obviously the margin for error is greater,

but also you'll look like a bigger **** if you mess it up.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. If you don't get a podium and you're suddenly fourth or fifth, you're like,

I've just, I can't believe I've blown that. Anyway, that didn't happen, and there's no

point in talking about that. Anyway, let's do your top 10 and a 10. It's Gabriel Bortoletto.

At nine, it's Ollie Bearman. Eight, we've got Lewis Hamilton. Esteban Ocon at seven,

Fernando Alonso at six. Good race from him. George Russell slipped down a couple of places,

down a place from his, from his grip position to five. Charles Leclerc had a very quick drive

at four. Lando Norris, our new world champion, finished third. That's his 18th podium of

the season. Oscar Piastri with a great drive, not quite enough for the title, finished

in second position. And for his eighth win of the season, he's won more races than any other

driver. This is out on the title. It's Max Verstappen. That's a really interesting fact,

isn't it? And what, what's the noise out there? Is it a little, it sounds like a float going

past or something? No, it's a, it's a boat, which looks like it's turned on a smoke machine,

is what it is. Great. That's fun. For no apparent reason, there's just a smoking boat.

Eighth one of the season for Max Verstappen, that's, he mentioned that he needs some new

haters because all the other haters have turned into fans. I don't think he's far wrong with that.

His season this season has made a lot of people have gone, well, I don't know how much was up and

go. I quite like Max Verstappen for what he's done here this season. Hasn't it just, hasn't it

just yet phenomenal? And that's that we'll, we'll dig into when we talk about Max in a moment.

So we should look at the final driver standings, shouldn't we? Which Lando Norris,

423 points, the 35th world champion in Formula One history. And then Greg, as you were just

saying, Max Verstappen with all those wins, just two points behind, 421 points. And then Oscar

Piastri in third on 410. And Greg, we'll, we'll, we'll do Max in great detail because I want,

I want to talk about that. But we should start with Lando Norris, shouldn't we?

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a weekend that he will obviously remember for this moment, but the weekend

as a whole for him wasn't his best at all. It wasn't his best weekend. But it was good enough,

which in the circumstances with the pressure on is really impressive. If you see what I mean,

it wasn't like Abu Dhabi last year where he sort of came out and dominated and he won the race and

you think, wow, that was amazing. It wasn't that sort of weekend, but he did enough. And Zach Brown

in an interview over the weekend actually said, and he said, he's sure that Lando wouldn't mind

him saying that he thought there were a couple of nerves at one stage. And particularly at the

start of Q1, you saw those nerves a little bit. It was all a bit tentative, but he did enough.

And actually, yes, Max did the better job in qualifying, but Lando just beat his teammate.

Fine, he did enough. Oscar, the thing is, Greg, Oscar's got the ability to be super brave and go

around the outside and do a majestic move into whatever turn it was, turn nine or something.

I can't remember, but he's got the ability to do that because he's got nothing to lose.

Whereas to your point, Greg, at the start of the pod, Lando had everything to lose.

So yeah, take this weekend in isolation, you'd say, Lando missed out on pole,

and then Lando was beaten by his teammate. He did enough. So a very good weekend from Lando

Norris considering the supreme pressure he was under to not just win a title for Max Verstappen,

but his teammate as well. To do what he did, I think was amazingly impressive.

Amazingly impressive. Well done, Lando Norris. You came to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

and, my friends, you did everything you needed to do.

Where in this season was this one by Lando? Therefore, where could it have been lost?

As we always talk about, fine margins, et cetera, where were those moments that stick

out to you that were the moments you thought, oh, looking back now, that's where he won it?

So I'm going to be, permission to be smug a moment, Greg.

Always. Thank you. It's interesting because you don't normally ask for permission.

Rude and uncalled for, I think, actually, Derek. Come on. It's been a long season.

It's been a long season. How long ago did Melbourne feel? It feels like 35 years ago.

Yeah, 1976, the Australian Grand Prix was this year. Yeah. Well, that one out, Stats fans.

At the start of the season, I said, these guys are going to be so close.

And I drew a comparison between the 2012 Formula One season,

where Fernando Alonso was in it right until the end. The last race was in Brazil back in

those days when this was all sand. And Fernando stayed into the end of the season.

Despite the fact, I think he only won three races all season,

but he was phenomenally consistent, phenomenally consistent.

He just stuck it on the podium all the time and stayed in the title race to the last.

So, Lando Norris this year, missed out on the podium in Saudi, but that was fourth.

He made his mistake in Canada where he hit Oscar, and that was 18th.

The Dutch Grand Prix had his engine problem, so classified 18th, but didn't finish the race.

They were off the pace in Baku and finished seventh. The bad weekend for McLaren there.

Then they were disqualified in Vegas, and he was just off the podium in Qatar.

Aside from that, Lando Norris finished on the podium in every single race.

First, second, second. Then into Monaco, second Imola.

Sorry, then into Miami, second Imola, second Spain, second.

Basically, what I'm saying is what I think won the championship for Lando Norris in the end,

even though there were moments where we'll have done these debriefs and gone.

Lando didn't do as much as he could have done this weekend,

and Oscar had his phenomenal stint in the season.

While all that was happening, Lando was still keeping himself in contention.

Bar the odds moment like Canada by being superbly consistent

and doing seconds and thirds and sticking it on the podium exactly like Fernando did in 2012.

That's why he was able to stick it in and ride out.

There was such a long point this season where Oscar was the better McLaren driver.

There was all these moments where McLaren have slightly fudged it with

the pivals, which we'll talk about in a minute, but Lando Norris stuck in there by being consistent.

And we should say on top of that has also had awesome weekends like Monaco,

where it's like, wow, you just can't touch him.

He's a hugely worthy world champion, and he's done enough by being

Mr consistent and having some barnstorming performances when he needed to.

It's been great that it has been an up and down season for lots of the drivers.

It does make it more interesting for us as viewers and fans.

It keeps us all guessing.

I guess it's a real test for the drivers to the point where Max Verstappen was really tested.

You know, he was really tested towards the end of it.

He could have won it today.

That was potential.

So that would have been a new position for him to win the championship from behind

would have been a new thing for him.

On that, I am really interested to hear from some newer Formula One fans

who maybe only came to the sport three or four years ago,

because they'll have to get their head around the fact that

it's not always plain sailing for the world champion.

You don't just, you don't just win, win, win, win, win,

like Max has the last few years.

That doesn't, that is a, that's freak.

That's freaky behavior.

This is much more what it's usually like.

The way that there is a battle,

not necessarily the final race of the season,

but where it does tend to ebb and flow throughout the season.

This is a, this has been a real,

it's been a classic season, hasn't it really?

It's been a great season.

And as you said that he's ebbed and flowed.

And I think one of those areas where

Betty speaks about it a lot.

Betty's always really fascinated by Lando's mentality and mindset.

And it was a stick used to beating with.

And when it has ebbed and flowed,

when he was, Lando was sort of in a downward moment in the past,

you'd see him really beat himself up.

And that just isn't good for anybody.

And then I was so impressed with, as I said,

his biggest horror show of the season

was hitting Oscar in Canada.

And I was at that race and I watched him in the media pen

where the drivers did the interviews after.

I stood on the side and watched.

He just seemed so calm and he'd made a howler.

But I was like, that was a really interesting moment

at the season for me where it was like,

he's recovered from a howler,

but he's not beating himself up like we've seen in the past.

It's just like, yeah, that was a mistake.

Guess what? Mistakes happen.

We're human. I move on.

And then again, even when Oscar was getting the better of him,

to the point I made before about him having the seconds and thirds,

he just sort of did what he needed to do

and he didn't get carried away.

He didn't get carried away with the lows.

His, he's chilled out more.

And I think that more chilled out version of Lando

is the version that's come into this weekend.

And as I said, does, has done what he's needed to do.

So I think he's improved as the season's gone on.

Because of those ebbs and flows, Greg,

he's, he's been able to ride the waves more.

And I think that's the massive part

of the reason why he's world champion.

This stuff's hard. And he's young.

It's well out. They're all young.

Oh, they're children.

They're, they're having to grow up in the public gaze.

Can we answer that at least seven?

Right. Exactly.

They're having to grow up in the public gaze

and make these mistakes and try and learn who they are

as people. And it feels like Lando's

well on that journey now of going,

yeah, this is what I'm, this is what I'm about now.

This is, this is my stuff.

I've got my, I've got my life

that I'm building around my, my mad career.

I've got, that's, this is how I, this is how I switch off.

This is, these are the people I call

when I'm feeling sad.

These are the day trips I like to do

when I need to de-stress.

Like all those things are really important

in an adult life.

And when you're living it publicly,

it must be incredibly difficult.

So full credit to him and the team

around him and his family and his parents

and his friends and his girlfriend and everybody

that they're, they're all part of this

because you can't do this on your own.

And it looks like a very, it, you know,

he looks like a very accomplished young man

without sounding like an old lady.

But that he, he was wearing that championship.

Well, that announcement with, you know, with pride.

And he can, he can afford to be swaggering around a bit now.

And in the years I've been a Formula One fan

and then been lucky enough

to become a Formula One presenter

and moved into the sport.

I've seen him grow up around me.

I've seen him go from the first ever time

I interviewed Lando and Aris

from way before his first event

where he looked like a nervous child

because he literally was,

to growing into this confident man

who knows what he's about,

who knows he wants to be a Formula One world champion

and now is, but wasn't wanting to change the way he does it

to become a different person.

That's something that as a human being

I've always really admired about Lando and Aris.

He's done that really, really well.

He has, he's grown up

and he's become a world champion

and you said at the start of the podcast

Greg, it's exciting for what's next

because sometimes, you know,

the confidence that gives people

can unlock second, third wins in,

in, wins in careers, you know,

as they level up and improve

and we've seen Lando level up in

and improve this year.

So, and, and also one thing

we won't do in this podcast at the end

we'll do it now

and we'll do it with only one bit

is we normally do Radio Radar.

To me, there is only one moment

of Radio Radar this week

and that is Lando at the end of the,

at the end of the race

and the way he said,

I love you mom and I love you dad.

I've not told this story on the podcast

but I watched qualifying for Vegas

in the McLaren hospitality building

and I watched his dad's Adam

look like the most nervous, worried man.

You could see the electricity

flowing through him as he,

he wasn't, you know, when people's

knees jangle, it was like

his whole leg was jangling.

It was like he was banging

his leg on the floor with the nerves.

They'll have gone through it with him

and it was, it was just,

it was just so lovely to see his dad

with so much passion

he came through him and caring

and Lando's so lucky to be able to

have his mom and dad there to witness it.

It's a lovely thing.

Me and Betty both said

in the Fast and Curious group,

Greg, didn't we?

We both had tears.

You know, it's the human emotion side of it.

It's certainly why me and Betty love the sport.

I know Greg, it's a massive part of it for you as well,

the human emotion side of things.

That emotion, that him crying his eyes out

as he crossed the line.

That's why we're sport fans.

That's why we love this sport.

It was a joy to see him.

And listen, Greg, you've met him on a number of occasions.

I'm lucky enough to speak to him quite a bit.

Always such a lovely guy.

Always a very nice guy to talk to.

Even in the, you can tell when it's,

you can tell with him

when he's finding it tough, you know,

that the spark goes a little bit

when there's the pressure inevitably,

understandably.

But on a human level, I'm so happy for him.

And he deserves this.

I'm so happy that he'll be able to.

Jensen Button has this inner peace about him

for being a Formula One World Champion.

From when he won that championship,

he can just, and Nick Rossberg's the same.

Landon will always have this.

He'll always be a Formula One World Champion

no matter what happens for the rest of his career.

And I'm so pleased he's in that elite club.

I think he deserves it.

I'm so pleased for him.

Yeah. Couldn't agree more.

Nothing more to add on that.

He did the thing.

He did the thing that everyone wants to do.

And he's, and he can wear that with pride forever.

And actually, yeah, you're spot on.

He's a top bloke.

Really fun.

Really funny.

Obviously takes it all very, very seriously

as he should do.

And he has a great load of people around him,

as we were saying, including that McLaren team.

And I just, I would love to shout out Will Joseph.

And I'd love to shout out Harry who does all the sort of PR stuff.

And Sophie Og as well who left half of the season.

This is all, this is all theirs.

This is all their thing.

And Sophia, and Sophia made it as well.

Wonderful.

So the two Sophie's can't be forgotten at McLaren yet.

The double Sophie combo.

And all of that team, really amazing work from all of them.

We were there at the end of last season,

weren't we doing our show from the MTC?

And, you know, good season.

They were like, it's going to be good next year, isn't it?

And they went, yeah, we think it might be.

Yeah, it bloody was.

It was amazing.

Constructors, again, second time on the bounce for that.

You've got the world champion.

You've got Oscar Piastri who was third in the driver standings as well.

Can we finally say that Papaya rules actually are pretty good and they smashed it?

Well, right.

Can we say they smashed it?

No.

No, we can't.

Okay, can we say that Papaya rules okay?

Okay, yeah, because listen, they won the world championship with DriversWise by a couple of points.

If I'm putting my sports journalist head on, and you know me, Greg,

I'm a terribly serious sports journalist who takes everything very seriously.

But if I'm going to do that for a second,

they should have won this championship by more.

And there were times this season where they've made b***** ups

because I think they were overthinking it.

That said, bloody work, isn't it?

They had a driver win a world championship.

Oscar Piastri ends the season in a position where he can rev up and go again.

And he might not think every decision's gone his way and his fans certainly won't.

But, you know, there is no conspiracy at McLaren.

Oscar will start again and be in a position to fight for world championships again

and we'll come on to that in a bit.

But yeah, so ultimately, they didn't cock it up, Greg.

They got the title that they needed to have because let's be honest,

this is the quickest car.

So if they hadn't had won the title, it would have been a tragedy.

But thankfully for all those wearing papaya, they did.

Well, how many years ago was the last McLaren driver world champion?

Well, with Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Right, 17 years ago.

So to our point about Lando getting...

We've said this about lots of drivers.

Oscar getting used to winning, Lando getting used to winning.

When he won in Miami, you know, last season,

you get used to it.

You get used to this stuff.

You've got to cut all these people a bit of slack

because they're operating at a very high level.

Absolutely, yes.

And the stakes are incredibly high.

And, you know, there's a lot of money at stake.

There's a lot of pride.

All of this mad stuff going on, which, you know,

we don't really truly understand the levels that they have to operate

and the money they have to deal with.

But I'm talking about the team as a whole.

With a team like McLaren,

they're also learning how to win again.

Can you agree more?

These aren't the same people that did that 17 years ago.

Some will be.

There'll be a couple.

Yeah.

There'll be a couple of people, you know,

consulting and being there and all of that.

But also the world has completely changed from 17 years ago.

And we were living through the Red Bull Max Verstappen dynasty.

So they deserve a lot of credit for pushing through that

and also holding their nerve

because it's clearly not easy.

Otherwise, they would just do it.

So winning becomes a habit for all these people.

And it's taken a long time to do this.

So you're going to be shaky because you're going to be like,

oh my God, 17 years, we can't f**k it up again.

Yeah. And their intentions were honourable.

Just briefly before we got to the break and the Max and Oscar,

their intentions were honourable.

You know, they wanted to keep both drivers in it.

They should be praised for that.

That is a good thing.

It's kept it interesting.

It's kept it good to go out.

So they should be praised for that.

And the meteoric rise of McLaren

under Zach Brown and his team

since the dark days of the 2010s has been remarkable.

So Greg, you've summed it up so well.

Absolutely.

OK, quick break.

Then we'll chat about Oscar.

We'll chat about Max.

And we'll look at the final constructors' standings

and what that means for next year.

Christian, the end of the season

is getting so incredibly close.

The championship battle has been insane.

We are all going to miss it so much

when that final race of the season comes around, aren't we?

I mean, I'm usually ready for a break

at the end of the F1 season,

but you just kind of don't want this one to end, do you?

Like, with so little in it,

with Landau and Oscar going between them.

But, like, the winter break is getting shorter and shorter.

So there's a saying we don't want this season to end,

but 2026 will literally be here before we know it.

I know I think you need a holiday, to be honest.

I think we all need a holiday.

But our sports fans, we're so fickle, aren't we?

Because instantly, there is going to be

a whole load of new storylines

that we're just going to get carried away with.

Whole load of new drivers that we're going to get behind

and say that they're going to win the championship.

And there's also going to be brand new cars

for everyone to get used to as well in 2026.

And a whole new flipping team joining the grid as well.

There is so much drama. I just love it.

I love it.

So much drama.

But that means now is actually a good time

to start plotting out which races

you might want to get to next season

because with F1 only getting bigger

and better and more exciting,

tickets for Grand Prix,

they get snapped up so fast.

And that, Christian Hugel,

is where our good friends at Gullivers come in.

We've spoken about them a fair bit this season,

but if you haven't heard of them,

they're basically a cheat code

for getting you to your dream race weekend.

And what's been so lovely

is the amount of you who've been in touch

saying you've used Gullivers

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We're back on the Fast and the Curious.

It's the Abu Dhabi Doody Brief.

And, uh, Kristyn Hughill, is where are you again?

I'm sort of near my hotel, to be honest.

Just looking out across the marina, uh, in Abu Dhabi, yes.

Yeah. Oh, sorry, the Yaaas Marina.

Yaaas Marina Circuit.

Thank you to the 953,000 people who've deem me that

after the podcast last week.

I'm grateful for it.

And I didn't do it on the preview

and I'd like to apologize fully and frankly for that.

So, Yaaas Marina Circuit.

Thank you. Well, I've been texting that to you all week.

You have and you're not the only one, my friend.

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Let's talk, Max.

Okay.

Yes, I'm happy to do so.

I know the answer to this question,

but I'm going to ask it anyway.

Could anyone else have done what he's just done this season?

No. And again, this weekend's an example of it.

I don't genuinely believe the Red Bull car

was quickest going into this weekend.

I think McLaren probably had the just advantage here.

But I think what makes him so special is he thrives under pressure.

I mentioned earlier that Lando came into the weekend

with a bit of nerves.

It's like they don't affect Max.

He just thrives under the pressure

and I just think that's remarkable.

I think it's absolutely remarkable.

So, no, no one could have elongated this title battle

as much as he did.

And we've also, in the same way that before the break,

you praised McLaren, Greg.

We've also got to praise Red Bull.

Basically, post-horner, really.

That was the turning point.

Since then, the improvement in that car

to give Max the position to do that has been remarkable.

The only thing I will say is,

listen, there are so many moments in a world championship.

If Kimmy Antonelli hadn't had a snap of oversteer,

Lando wouldn't have won the championship

from when that happened last time out.

But, we could also say,

if Max hadn't purposely hit George

and got a penalty that took him down to 10th

in the Spanish Grand Prix,

he might well have been the world champion.

But listen, that's unbelievably harsh on Max

because he admitted he was in the wrong there

and all the great Schumacher, Senna,

all of them go a bit too far.

So, we can't be too hard on Max there.

He's had a wonderful, remarkable season.

Because all the things that make these people great

also sometimes make these people terrible.

And bubble over a bit.

And that's why you get,

but you only get Max for Stappen

because you enjoy both sides of his personality.

And that's one of the reasons

top-level sport is so, so brilliant.

Can you channel all your energies

for good and positively?

That's the thing.

And it's clearly very difficult to do.

And we'll never understand

how difficult that is to actually do.

So Red Bull will be very happy

because they have had a tumultuous year.

It's been a tumultuous season.

There's been so much change, so many stories,

so much stuff boiling over.

And you mentioned the Christian Horner stuff.

We've forgotten all about that really now.

The things move so quickly,

but it was looking very desperate for Red Bull at one point.

And they've managed to dig deep

and somehow rebuild

and somehow end up with Max for Stappen

on 421 points just two away

from the champion.

And I've praised Max so much recently,

but the truly scary thing is,

I think what they've done is regalvanised

and put themselves into a better position

for going forward.

They've given people like me

who analyse and observe this sport

more faith that they can actually

get themselves back into a position they were before

and give Max the car he needs

to win the World Championship.

They've got a big name coming in in forwards

who will probably take a bit of time

to get used to Red Bull

and build that relationship.

But a massive name like Ford behind you

can only be a good thing.

That's exciting.

They've got a great driver

coming into the team in Isaac Hage

and they've got Max.

And as I said, they've got that newfound confidence

having rallied back at the end of the season.

And that is scary for the likes

of McLaren and Mercedes

who will be going into 2026

looking to win the World Championship.

So, yes, there'll be some,

you know, a GP at the end of the race,

Max's race engineer looked gutted.

They'll lick their wounds and be sad.

They didn't do this spectacular comeback,

but then they'll sit on the beach

over the winter break and think,

you know what, there's so much to be excited for

if we're Red Bull and be cheerful there.

And they're a scary prospect

for people going into 2026.

They won't be far off.

And even if they don't need to design the best car

for Max to win the Championship,

they just need to design nearly the best car.

Yeah, and nearly is the word I was going to use there.

I mean, they did.

They had no right really to pull off

what they almost did.

That's the worrying thing.

That's the worrying thing for all the other teams

going into 2026.

Not that Max Verstappen needs any more confidence.

He's the world's most confident man,

but for him to run it that close

and to win that last race

and it not being McLaren car,

he will love that.

On the flight home tomorrow,

he'll be thinking, yeah, I nailed that actually.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Let's talk Oscar, lovely Oscar,

who for a while,

we were all convinced.

And we hoped, you know, we love him.

We think I think he's a brilliant, brilliant bloke.

We thought he was going to win that title,

that championship,

and it didn't happen.

Where did it all go wrong for him?

Oh, yeah. Greg, listen, I like him so much.

We followed his story.

For those new to the podcast,

we tell the story all the time

that he was the first ever thing we recorded

before his first ever F1 race.

To echo what I said to Lando,

I like Oscar Piastri so much as a human being.

I would have been over the moon

if he'd won this championship.

Not that I'm not happy that Lando hasn't.

And Greg, we've spoken a lot recently about the,

as this podcast's popularity has risen,

you get the British bias accusations

because there's three British hosts

and people say, oh, you only want Lando to win.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

I just wanted it to be a fun race till the end it was.

And I'd have been delighted if Oscar had won.

Like I'm delighted Lando has won.

And in terms of your question,

where did it all go wrong?

That blip in the final third of the season,

only Oscar himself and possibly his race engineer,

Tom Sellard, can truly know where the switch switched

in terms of that supreme coolness

where it looked like nothing can phase him

to go from that to a weekend like Baku

where he hit the wall twice, like Brazil

where there was another mistake.

Something went wrong there.

And they will look at that

and analyze that over the winter.

But, but, take the season as a whole for Oscar Piastri.

In only his third season, Lando and Max

have been at this much, much longer than Oscar.

In only his third season.

So fight for a world championships

and take it to the last level

against drivers of the caliber

of Lando and Max in your third season is remarkable.

Yeah, 410 points.

He led the championship for most of it.

Just didn't go well in the second half of his season.

And I think you're right to say

overall it was a really great season for him.

And also expectations rise so quickly in this sport.

He starts winning and then suddenly everyone goes,

he's a world champion.

Yes, we know I'm guilty of that.

We're guilty of getting overexcited.

That's, I've made a whole career out of it.

But you see, you go, he's the next best thing.

Let's all back him.

And then suddenly you go, oh, but he's let us all down.

No, he hasn't.

He is he is outperforming the place that even how he would.

He's outperforming his own expectations,

I imagine at times and surprising himself.

So he's well on that journey now

to do what Lando has just done today.

And when it's when the time is right,

it will it will be even sweeter.

And that's why it's great that Lando has waited for this moment

because this is the moment.

This is the time for him to be the world champion.

It is.

And listen, the way Oscar rallied in Qatar and came back

is amazing.

He's his weekend, this weekend, spectacular, absolutely spectacular.

I am proudly one of those people who are saying,

I think he'll be a world champion.

I think he will.

I really think he is not just a Formula One race winner.

I think he's that next level up of being a world champion.

I think he can be every bit as good as Lando Norris.

I don't think he's far off now.

And there are those in Formula One who believe

Oscar's ceiling is ultimately higher than Lando's.

And therefore Lando had to win this championship

because in future his teammate will be an even more

formidable opponent.

The future is bright for Oscar Piazza.

And he will be gutted right now.

He looks gutted on the podium.

While this Abu Dhabi as I can see the complex,

the track opposite me in front of me, the lights are still blaring.

Everybody's parting.

He will be in a bleak mood.

But when he sits down and reflects, he'll see the positives.

He'll see what he achieved.

He'll see how much he improved from season two

to season three of his Formula One career.

And he'll go into 2026 as a formidable opponent

to anybody fighting for that world championship.

And unless he gets super unlucky across his career,

he'll win titles.

He's a talent.

He's special.

And what he achieved in this third season was amazing.

So listen, if you're an Oscar fan,

watching and listening to this gutteds,

I just think your time's going to come, guys.

I just think your time's going to come.

So don't worry about it.

You all right?

Don't worry about it.

But you don't worry about it.

Trust the process.

He'll do it again another day, mate.

Let's mop up today's any other business

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Okay, let's talk about the Constructors' standings.

So, McLaren, Constructors' champions,

second place, Mercedes, third place Red Bull,

Ferrari fourth, Williams fifth,

Racing Bulls at six, Aston Martin at seven,

Hassa eight, Kicksalber at nine, and Alpine at 10.

I would love...

Can I throw a curveball here?

Can we start at Williams, please?

That has been one of the most joyful resurgence

in this sport for a long time.

And I'm incredibly pleased for them for the drivers.

But James Vowles, we've had on this show

a couple of times now,

love, I love his ethos.

I love that he is not horribly alpha.

I love that he is...

I really respect Zach Brown,

and I love what he's done with that team.

But he's like, he's like, you know, he's like...

He's probably, you know, he's a man's man,

isn't he? So that kind of...

Yes, like my good self, sure.

Yeah, very similar to you.

Whereas I love the more considered...

I love that both can exist in this crazy sport.

You've got the James Vowles approach, which is...

Let's talk it out, guys.

Let's talk it through.

Let's just take our time.

Let's just...

Let's put some ideas down.

Let's have a little...

Let's go out for lunch and talk it through.

But let's get the strategy right and let's keep calm.

Both can work, both operate in this sport.

What have you loved about Williams this year?

Exactly, as you said.

I've loved that James Vowles has been so excellent

in his leadership.

I've loved that Carlos Sainz has dug into

his Formula One skill set

and rallied at the end of the season.

I love that Alex Albon,

certainly the first two-third of the season, was fantastic.

Tricky final third of the season,

which he'll want to bounce back from

quite quickly next season.

But I've loved the fact that they've made such progress

despite the facts.

They are so shamelessly focusing on the new rule changes

and the fact that they've had this...

They've managed to improve the car in the way they have

despite the fact that looking at the new rules

is remarkable.

So a real success story from Williams.

And just while we're going through the final constructs,

Greg, can I just do some...

Because we're going to have us view

the whole season next week

with Karin Chandrak and Sam Ryder.

But I just want to, before we go, if it's okay,

do a couple of quick potted points.

Is this okay?

Please.

Christian's potted points.

I think, again, Red Bull to get third

in the World Championship,

basically considering they're only having

one driver score points all season.

Fantastic.

Unexceptible season for Ferrari in all forms.

We're not going to talk about this today.

We'll do it with Karin next week.

Unexceptible season for Ferrari.

Just awful.

And solid from racing Bulls,

as you'd hope and expect from a Red Bull B team.

Real improvement from Sauber in ninth.

And Aston Martin shouldn't be finishing solo down.

And they've got long-term aspirations

with Adrian Newey.

I just want to shout out Haas, actually,

who I'm gutted for Haas, actually,

that they didn't manage to get the scalp

of what would have been Aston Martin,

just to point away.

They're very unlucky there,

because actually Haas has season.

Similar to what we were saying with Williams, Greg.

Aya Kamatsu, lovely, calm, analytical guy.

Esteban Ocon has sort of not just had a good season

in terms of performance with his season at Haas,

but also just seemed like the F1 world

has fallen in love with him again.

Delightful guy.

I love speaking to Esteban Ocon.

Had a brilliant debut season for Oli Bearman.

So really well done to Haas.

And an absolute disaster for Alpine at the bottom

who really need to get their s*** together,

because they don't want to be finishing 10th

with that team's history.

So they will want to improve in the new ruleset.

But yeah, we'll do a bit more reflection

on the season as a whole next week.

Yes, and that show will be a live show.

We're going to be doing a Christmasy end of season

review with a live audience in London.

It'll be me. It'll be Christian Hugo.

It'll be Betty Glover.

And as Christian just mentioned,

we'll have Sam Ryder and Karun Chandak as well.

And there's also something else coming

over the festive period and into the new year.

Christian, would you like to tell everyone about that?

I would love to tell everybody about that.

We've had a lot of people messaging us

being saying, what am I going to do over the winter break?

Well, two things.

Do feel free to do something else,

because there's only seven weeks

until pre-season testing.

So go outside, go for a walk.

Do enjoy not having to sacrifice

your Sunday all the time is the only thing I would say.

But away from that, away from that,

we know people feel the departure,

the lack of Formula One in the winter months.

And Greg, we're an old podcast now.

You know, we've been going three years.

This is the end of our third season.

There's a lot of new people joined us this year.

And we spotted a lot of people saying,

do you know what?

You should have Lance Stroll on what we have.

You should have Estaban Ocon on what we have.

So there's so much in our archive.

Again, Oscar Piastri from three years ago,

before we even driven a Formula One car as an F1 driver.

All of this is in our archive.

And we're going to release some never before seen on YouTube

and not heard for a while on audio stuff

with the Fast and the Curious Gold coming to this feed,

whether it be on YouTube or audio,

throughout the winter, every week,

a new episode of the Fast and the Curious Gold

with a little bit of thoughts from the team

about that particular driver

and then some best moments of us speaking to said driver

over the course of our three years.

Some of the funniest moments, some of the maddest moments,

some moments where it's like, oh my God, he looked so young.

So every week over the festive period,

right up until when we're back in the new year,

the Fast and the Curious Gold

was some of our favorite moments of the last three years,

which I'm really excited to show people

some of this stuff that was been sat in our archive,

like Baby Oscar, especially in Baby Lando.

Like, it's gonna be great.

For now, we say thank you for listening.

Thank you for watching.

And we'll be back next week with an end of season review.

Make sure you're following us on Fast Curious Pod

on socials and on YouTube and on your podcast feeds as well.

Thank you for listening and watching.

See you next week. Bye-bye.

Bye, everybody.

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Champion Of The World! | Abu Dhabi GP 2025 Debrief

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