At the first final race title decider in four years, Norris could become Britain’s first new champion since 2009, Verstappen could equal the record for most consecutive title wins and Piastri could become Australia’s first champion since 1980. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix!
THE 2025 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX MILESTONES
The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the 1,149th World Championship event in Formula 1 history.
This will be the 17th time that Formula 1 has raced in the United Arab Emirates. It will be the 17th Abu Dhabi Grand Prix held at Yas Marina Circuit since the event was first held in 2009.
Yas Marina Circuit will extend its record for hosting the final race of the season on the most occasions. It will be the 14th time that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been the season finale.
The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the first time that a Formula 1 race has ever been held on December 7.
Lap 8 of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the 900th racing lap at Yas Marina Circuit in the track’s history on the F1 calendar.
Nico Hulkenberg makes his 250th Grand Prix start this weekend, becoming the 13th driver to makes as many as 250 starts in his career. He becomes the first to make 250 starts without having won a Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen makes his 233rd consecutive Grand Prix start this weekend. He overtakes Daniel Ricciardo for second on the list of most consecutive starts in the sport’s history, having not missed a race since his debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix.
The Sauber name makes its final start in Formula 1 at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, having made its debut at the start of the 1993 season. The team becomes Audi in 2026.
Mercedes make their 341st Grand Prix appearance this weekend, overtaking Minardi for tenth on the list of most starts for a constructor in Formula 1 history.
Charles Leclerc makes his 150th start with Ferrari this weekend, becoming the seventh driver to have made as many as 150 starts with a single team. He is the third driver to make as many as 150 starts with Ferrari, after Michael Schumacher (180) and Kimi Raikkonen (151).
In addition, Leclerc makes his 171st start with Ferrari power this weekend, overtaking Fernando Alonso for fourth on the list of most starts with a single engine manufacturer. Alonso made 170 starts with Renault power, while Leclerc has made 170 starts with Ferrari power to date.
A WORLD CHAMPION TO CROWN
For the first time since 2021, the Drivers’ Championship will be decided at the final race of the year. With Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri all still with a chance at taking the title, this is the first time since the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that more than two drivers could win the title at the final race of the year.
Yas Marina Circuit hosts its fifth title decider this weekend, becoming the fifth track to have hosted five title-deciding races, after Suzuka, Monza, Interlagos and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. United Arab Emirates becomes the sixth nation to have hosted as many as five title deciders.
A title win for Max Verstappen would see him equal Michael Schumacher’s record for the most consecutive title wins. Schumacher won all five titles between 2000 and 2004, while this would be Verstappen’s fifth successive win.
Verstappen would become only the fourth driver – after Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have won as many as five titles.
A title win for Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri would make them the first new World Champion since Max Verstappen took the title for the first time at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. They would become the 35th different driver to have won the title.
Norris can become the 11th different British driver to win the title, extending Britain’s record as the nation with the most different title-winning drivers. He will be the first new driver to join that list since Jenson Button in 2009.
Piastri can become the third Australian driver to win the title, after Jack Brabham (1959, 1960 & 1966) and Alan Jones (1980).
A title win for Verstappen or Piastri would see their nation – the Netherlands and Australia respectively – equal Argentina as the nation with the fourth-most Drivers’ Championships. It would be the fifth title win for either nation.
If Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri win the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and do not win the title, it would be the first season since 2016 in which the driver with the most wins is not crowned World Champion. In 2016, Lewis Hamilton had ten wins compared to champion Nico Rosberg’s nine.
Norris would become only the fourth driver – after Nigel Mansell, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg – to have started as many as 150 Grands Prix before taking a title victory for the first time.
Norris would be the fifth driver to win his first title in his seventh season in Formula 1. Mike Hawthorn, Jochen Rindt, Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen are the other drivers who did so.
Piastri would become only the eighth driver to have won the World Championship within his first three seasons in Formula 1. He would be the first driver to do since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Jacques Villeneuve is the only other driver to have done so since 1973.
Piastri would join Alberto Ascari, Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi as the fourth driver who won their first title in their third season of Formula 1.
At 26 years and 24 days old, Norris would become the seventh-youngest driver to have won the World Championship. He will be 16 days older than Max Verstappen when he won the title at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
A title win for Piastri would make him the first driver born in the 2000s to be crowned World Champion. Every previous World Champion was born in the 1900s.
At 24 years, 8 months and 1 day old, Oscar Piastri would become the fifth youngest driver to have been crowned World Champion.
THE FORMULA 1 RECORDS WHICH COULD BE BROKEN
If the polesitter wins the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 2025 will be the 11th consecutive season in which the polesitter has won at Yas Marina Circuit. That would set a new record for the most consecutive wins from pole at a circuit, with Yas Marina having equalled Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s ten race streak from 2001 to 2010 in 2024.
A pole position for Max Verstappen would be his fifth pole at Yas Marina Circuit. It would equal the Red Bull Ring as the circuit at which Verstappen has taken the most pole positions to date in his career.
A podium finish for Max Verstappen would be his tenth consecutive podium result. It would be only the eighth time that a driver has taken as many as ten top three finishes in a row and Verstappen would become the third driver – after Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton – to achieve a streak of ten successive podiums twice in his career.
If Lewis Hamilton does not finish on the podium, 2025 will be the first season in his career in which he has not finished in the top three in a Grand Prix. It would end his record streak of 18 consecutive seasons with a podium finish. He would also become the first Ferrari driver to fail to record a podium finish all year since Kimi Raikkonen in 2014.
A Q1 exit for Lewis Hamilton would see him equal the longest streak of Q1 exits in his career. The only other time Hamilton has recorded three Q1 exits in a row was at the 2009 Monaco, Turkish and British Grands Prix.
If Oscar Piastri takes pole position for the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the season will end with Piastri, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris tied on seven pole positions each. It would be the first season since 2009 that three drivers end the year tied for most pole positions over the course of a season. That year, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton each took four poles each.
If George Russell crosses the finish line, it will be the 13th time that a driver has completed every Grand Prix in a Formula 1 season. It will be the first time that Russell has achieved the feat – making him the 12th driver to have done so. It will also be the third year in a row that one driver has completed every race in a season.
A pole position for Max Verstappen would see the Netherlands equal Italy for sixth place on the list of most poles for a nation in Formula 1.
If Oscar Piastri wins the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and does not win the title, he will join a list of nine other drivers – which currently includes his team-mate – who’ve won as many as ten Grands Prix without ever winning the title.
A pole position at any Grand Prix in 2025 for Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto or Isack Hadjar would make them the youngest Grand Prix polesitter in F1 history.
Max Verstappen holds the record for wins from the most different grid positions in Formula 1. He’ll become the first driver to win from 11 different grid slots this weekend should he win from 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th or 20th on the grid.
If Max Verstappen leads every lap of the race, it will be the 19th race which he has led every lap of. It would see him equal Ayrton Senna for second on the list of most races led from start to finish.
A Grand Slam for Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton – winning from pole position having led every lap and set the fastest lap – would be their seventh Grand Slam. It would see them take outright second place on the list of most Grand Slams in F1, behind only Jim Clark.
A win for Lewis Hamilton would make him the 16th driver to have won Grands Prix with as many as three different teams.
A pole position for Charles Leclerc would see him equal Nigel Mansell for eighth on the list of most poles with a single team. Mansell took 28 poles with Williams during his career, while Leclerc has taken 27 poles with Ferrari to date.
A win for Ferrari would make 2025 the 60th season in which they’ve won a Grand Prix.
A victory for a Ferrari-powered car this weekend would make Ferrari the first engine manufacturer to have powered 250 victories in Formula 1. Of the 249 previous victories, Sebastian Vettel’s with Toro Rosso at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix is the only one which was not taken in a Ferrari chassis.
THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX RECORDS ON OFFER
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victories, with five. Hamilton could extend that record at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, or his tally of wins at Yas Marina Circuit could be equalled by Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris could become the fourth driver to win multiple races at Yas Marina Circuit.
With seven wins, Red Bull are the team with the most victories at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mercedes could equal that record this weekend.
Mercedes have 14 podium finishes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is the record for most top three finishes for a team at the event. Their tally could be equalled or overtaken this weekend by Red Bull – with 13 podiums to date – or equalled by Ferrari, who’ve recorded 12 top three results so far at Yas Marina Circuit.
If he sets the fastest lap in the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton will equal Sebastian Vettel as the driver with the most fastest laps at Yas Marina Circuit. Vettel holds the record with four fastest laps at the track.
Red Bull could overtake Mercedes as the team who’ve scored the most points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – but only if they out-score Mercedes by more than 15 points.
Red Bull could overtake Mercedes for the most laps led by a team in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. They’d need to lead 18 more laps of the race than Mercedes to do so.
A third place finish for Charles Leclerc in the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see him equal Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel for the most third place finishes at Yas Marina Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are currently tied with Sebastian Vettel for the most races completed at Yas Marina Circuit, with 13. Either driver could set a new outright record in the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are two of four drivers who hold a 100% points rate at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, along with Felipe Massa and Paul di Resta. A points finish for Norris this weekend would see him become the second driver to score on all of his first seven appearances at the track, after Massa.
Seven current drivers have a 100% finish rate at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Max Verstappen will be hoping to extend his record of most appearances at Yas Marina Circuit without recording a DNF to 11, while Charles Leclerc can equal Felipe Massa for second on the list.
Liam Lawson will be hoping to move out of a group of drivers with a 100% non-finish rate at Yas Marina Circuit. Franco Colapinto, Jerome d’Ambrosio and Narain Karthikeyan are the only other drivers in the group. A non-finish for Lawson would see him equal the record for the most consecutive DNFs here, which is shared between Carlos Sainz, Nicholas Latifi, Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez.
If Lewis Hamilton fails to finish the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he will become the first driver to record four retirements at the track. He is currently tied with Kimi Raikkonen for the most non-finishes here. Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg could equal the existing record for the most DNFs at the track. Hulkenberg is the only driver to record multiple first lap retirements here.
2025 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING RECORDS
Nobody has more pole positions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix than Lewis Hamilton, with five. His record tally could be equalled this weekend by Max Verstappen, if he takes pole for the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull have the most pole positions of any team at Yas Marina Circuit, with seven. Mercedes could equal the record with a pole position at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will both be hoping to maintain their 100% Q3 appearance records at Yas Marina Circuit. Felipe Massa, Nico Robserg and Mark Webber are the only other drivers who never missed out on Q3 at the track.
Lance Stroll is currently tied with Sergio Perez for the most Q2 exits at Yas Marina Circuit. Another at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would see Stroll set a new outright record, while the existing record could be matched by his team-mate, Fernando Alonso.
A Q1 exit for George Russell or Pierre Gasly would see them equal the record for most Q1 exits at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The current record of four is shared between Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.
LONGEVITY RECORDS ON OFFER FOR HAMILTON AND ALONSO
A win for Lewis Hamilton would see him move into the top ten of Formula 1’s oldest Grand Prix winners. He’d also become the second-oldest British driver to win a Formula 1 race, behind only Nigel Mansell.
A victory for Fernando Alonso would make him the sport’s fifth oldest winner – and the oldest since Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1957 German Grand Prix. Only nine drivers have won races at the age of over 40. The most recent driver to do so was Nigel Mansell, at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.
A pole position for Lewis Hamilton in 2025 would make him the first driver in his 40s to take pole position since Nigel Mansell at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. He would be the sixth driver to take a pole position above the age of 40.
A win for Fernando Alonso at any race in 2025 would see him set a new record for the longest gap between two Formula 1 victories, with his last having come at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. The current record is 6 years, 6 months and 28 days, set by Riccardo Patrese.
A pole position for Fernando Alonso in 2025 would make him the sport’s fourth-oldest polesitter. He would be the oldest polesitter since Jack Brabham at the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix.