F1 2025 awards: Lando Norris justifies favourite tag after gruelling three-way tussle
McLaren were the obvious choice for team of the year but Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari were a big disappointment while Williams exceeded expectationsLando Norris had gone into the season as favourite and he emerged on top after a gruelling contest.Securing his maiden world drivers’ title was no easy feat given how hard he had been pushed by his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.Closing it out was testament to a driver who maintained his nerve and confidence even as at times it seemed the title had slipped from his reach.The three title protagonists all had impressive seasons.Piastri, who had been so strong with a series of excellent wins, was let down by his drop in form in the final third, when he was found wanting on the circuits with low grip and made several errors that proved costly.
His touch deserted him in the crucial period.Verstappen’s charge from 104 points behind at the Dutch GP in August to 10 points back in Abu Dhabi was a remarkable feat and worthy of recognition as one of the best and most determined of his career.Even though he did not win the title it demonstrated once more that he can simply never be written off.Yet for all their efforts it was Norris who earned the plaudits after rallying from 34 points behind Piastri post Zandvoort, where he sat with his head in hands by the side of the track after his car gave out with a mechanical failure.He trusted in his abilities and returned some superb drives to claw his way back into the lead.
Though McLaren wobbled in Las Vegas and Qatar, Norris kept his cool in Abu Dhabi.The first title is always the hardest and this was hard fought indeed.McLaren’s good intentions meant their journey to a first drivers’ title since 2008 and their first drivers’ and constructors’ double since 1998, became as complicated and nailbiting as possible.The team stuck with the principle of letting their drivers race all season amid a torturously complex methodology of trying to be as fair as possible.In so doing incidents such as having Piastri cede a place to Norris after the latter had a slow pit stop in Monza, gave the conspiracy theorists a field day but were rightly dismissed as “nonsense” by the chief executivie, Zak Brown.
Their decision not to favour a No 1 which would have allowed them to close out the drivers’ championship early was admirable but it did let Verstappen back in the fight.Alongside their double disqualification in Las Vegas and a terrible strategy call in Qatar, the policy left them vulnerable at the death.However, their car was the class of the field for most of the season and caught by Red Bull only long after McLaren had ceased development.It was enough to seal the constructors’ championship by the Singapore GP with six races still to go.Outside their self-imposed efforts to be fair to their drivers, they executed generally with precision.
Nonetheless, special mention also goes to Red Bull, who opted bravely to continue development of their car in the hope it would help provide insight for their 2026 build and in so doing pushed McLaren to the wire.No little sense of deja vu as the answer is Brazil and the drive of Max Verstappen.Last year it was his charge from 17th to the win at São Paulo that was the standout moment and this season he seized third from a 19th-place start in the pit lane.Verstappen described his car as “completely broken” on the Friday and then could not hook up a lap in qualifying, being knocked out in Q1 for the first time since the Russian Grand Prix in 2021.The team had adapted their setup post-sprint in an effort to find better pace but it appears they had simply gone in the wrong direction in an attempt to fix the car’s instability over the bumps of Interlagos.
Yet the Dutchman delivered another masterclass in Brazil as he and Red Bull found the pace that eluded them all weekend after taking a new engine and employing a new setup after the dire qualifying,He scythed through the field with verve and dash that was a joy to watch,Every opening he went for he made, even as he took three pit stops, including an early one for a slow puncture,His rise through the field was inexorable and third behind the victor, Norris, kept him in the championship fight,Verstappen again, this time at Imola, where the context of the car’s performance gives the achievement even more weight.
At that point the Red Bull had been such a handful it was challenging to just maintain an equilibrium.From the lows of Bahrain where he was sixth, which followed a win in Japan, there was a surge again in Saudi Arabia but having then finished fourth, 40 seconds behind the two McLarens in Miami, the rollercoaster hurtled upwards once more in Imola.It was a win that, for all that the race did ebb and flow due to two safety car periods and strategy calls, was decided within scant seconds of the lights going out.Piastri had just held his lead from pole entering turn one but Verstappen made an absolute bravura move round the outside to scythe in front as they hurtled through Tamburello.He tiptoed on to the anchors as late as he possibly could and it was done.
Riding his speed, Verstappen had the lead and with it the race by the scruff of the neck.“I was still on the normal line and I thought I would try and send it round the outside and it worked really well.”Charles Leclerc’s move on George Russell at Zandvoort is also worthy of a mention.Russell harrumphed in protest at the time but later on, having reviewed the various angles from without, conceded that it had been artfully done.A move with the pleasing air of the verve of Gilles Villeneuve about it.
There was no greater anticipation for the season than Lewis Hamilton making his debut for Ferrari,It had been his childhood dream to join the Scuderia and after so much success with Mercedes, ending his career with the prospect of finally returning Ferrari to the top spot was a mouthwatering prospect,Joining a new team and adapting would always be a major task but few considered quite how trying it would be,Ferrari were off the pace early on and then ceased development of their car in April, making Hamilton’s task all the harder as he tried to bed in,After a win in the sprint race in China as a high point, the season only went downhill.
He finished in sixth place in the championship and failed to score a podium for the first time in his career.At one point branding his debut season with Ferrari a “nightmare”.The team had held second place in the constructors’ championship for some time but after a late season slump, notably with a dire run at the Qatar GP, could manage only fourth.Hamilton has veered in these latter stages from decrying what he has said was the worst season ever to optimism that Ferrari will turn it around in 2026 but a winter reset is clearly required, to which he is committed fully.“I don’t regret the decision I made, joining this team.
I know it takes time to build and grow within an organisation and I expected that,” he said.Ferrari have to hope their early commitment to developing next year’s car will pay off.Williams’ 2025 performance deserves praise.Finishing fifth in the championship, admittedly someway behind the big four, was an extraordinary achievement from a team targeting 2026 to see some returns from the changes made since James Vowles took over as team principal in January 2023.They have been in the bottom two in the championship in five of the past seven seasons but this year have managed to boss it over operations which had no such mountain to climb, not least Aston Martin and Alpine.
Drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz have delivered with great skill, with the latter proving to be a key signing pursued by Vowles after Ferrari dropped the Spaniard for Hamilton.Quite how much of a step Williams had made became clear in Miami when Albon and Sainz were in a fight with the Ferraris, the Scuderia finding themselves at one point trying to catch Albon, who took fifth place, and fend off a charging Sainz.The team had switched all their resources to the 2026 car very early in the season with Vowles saying “the gun is already fired” yet they managed to deliver on their early season form to stay in front.If the targeted step-up in 2026 is half as good, the team might be on track to begin a return to the glory days.Vowles and his entire team have done a striking job.
UK charities face ‘culture of fear’ as threats and violence surge
A surge in death and rape threats and harassment has created a “culture of fear” at charities serving women and refugees, and at mosques, churches and synagogues, the head of the Charity Commission has warned.Mark Simms said he feared growing hostility towards charity staff, volunteers and beneficiaries, both online and on the streets, was becoming normalised and risked eroding civilised values and norms British society once took for granted.His warning comes as the commission issues formal guidance advising charities on how to protect voluntary workers exposed to what it calls “unacceptable” personal risks as a result of threats, abuse and intimidation from some sections of the public.A range of charities report being targeted by extremists amid a rise in toxic and divisive political rhetoric around immigration. Incidents of violence and vandalism – and increased security measures to combat them – are regarded by some as the new normal
Scottish nurse wins part of her tribunal in trans doctor changing room case
A nurse who complained about sharing a women’s changing room with a transgender doctor has won part of her employment tribunal against NHS Fife but her claim against the doctor in question was dismissed.Sandie Peggie, who has worked as a nurse for more than 30 years, contended she was subject to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act when she was expected to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton.In a written judgment on Monday, the tribunal upheld Peggie’s harassment claim against the health board but dismissed other claims. It also dismissed the nurse’s claim against Upton, whose evidence was held to be “more reliable and materially more cohesive in nature”.The judgment was immediately attacked by gender-critical campaigners as “disappointing” for failing to provide employers with clarity on the practical application of April’s supreme court ruling on biological sex
A better understanding of mental ill health is crucial | Letters
As a psychotherapist with child and adolescent mental health services, I welcome Wes Streeting’s change of heart on his comments about the “overdiagnosis” of mental health conditions, ADHD and autism (I realise now that my view on mental health overdiagnosis was divisive. We all need better evidence, 4 December). Political point-scoring has no place in public health.By setting up this taskforce, Streeting acknowledges the complexity of the picture and that conversations must be led by research, where science and suffering can be held together.The increase in reported mental health problems and neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and services not keeping pace, reflect what many clinicians see every day – people are in more distress and unable to access support
People on lowest incomes being denied access to social housing, research finds
The poorest people in England are being denied access to social housing owing to their low income, in a “catch-22” situation that is pushing more people into homelessness, research has found.A new report from Crisis said that an ever depleting supply of social homes meant that housing associations were using strict criteria to choose new tenants, and people on low incomes and in receipt of benefits were having applications denied due to being deemed too risky.The situation has been compared to “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic” by one housing association, as the homelessness charity urged the government to introduce new rules.“Ultimately, people are in a catch-22 situation where they’re looking to move into a social rent home, and they’re basically told no because of their financial circumstances. But where else can people live?” said Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change
Local authorities in England and Wales warn finances at ‘breaking point’
Local authorities in England and Wales have warned their finances are at “breaking point” with more councils expected to fall into bankruptcy in future, as they face a nervous wait to discover their government funding this month.Council leaders expect changes to annual funding arrangements will result in steep cuts for many local authorities, preventing many from balancing their books and providing basic services to citizens.Amid a crisis in local authority funding, 29 councils have already been unable to meet their financial obligations without special government loans, including Croydon, Thurrock in Essex and Birmingham.Norfolk county council’s deputy leader for finance, Andrew Jamieson, said the number of local authorities unable to meet their statutory obligations was likely to grow when the government publishes a new funding settlement this month.“We are often accused of crying wolf, but local authorities are reaching breaking point now,” he said
Rules on single-sex spaces pose risk to trans people’s mental health, UK charities say
New rules on access to single-sex spaces could pose a significant risk to the mental health of trans and non-binary people, according to 15 of the UK’s most respected mental charities.Organisations including Samaritans, Mind, Centre for Mental Health and the Royal College of Psychiatrists have written to the equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson, to express their “deep concern” about guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that is awaiting approval from the government.The letter says the guidance could “deepen existing inequalities and pose significant risk to the mental health of trans and non-binary people across UK”.It says: “Mental health services should be places of refuge, not risk, and equality protections must strengthen, not erode, the conditions that enable people to feel safe and supported.”The EHRC is waiting for ministers to approve its official guidance on how public bodies, businesses and other service providers should respond to the supreme court’s ruling in April that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex
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