On Sunday, Lando Norris secured his first-ever World Drivers’ Championship, having finished third in the last race of the season, held on the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. Although the race made many fans hold their breath with anticipation, it had little to do with the track and everything to do with the championship implications.
The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had all the components needed to become an instant classic. For the first time in 15 years, three drivers were a part of the championship fight with only one race to go. For two of them, winning would mean lifting their first-ever WDC trophy, and for the third, it would mark one of the biggest comebacks in the sport’s history. The pieces were all there, and all the track needed to do was put them together into a coherent picture.
While many people would say that the race did make their hearts beat faster, in most cases, it wasn’t because the racing was so incredible, but because of the championship implications. There were a few decent overtakes, like the one performed by Oscar Piastri halfway through lap one, but for the most part, the drivers moved forward in a steady parade. At no point did we see a real fight for the lead. In the front, Piastri and Max Verstappen’s drastically different strategies eliminated the possibility of seeing some good wheel-to-wheel racing. Behind them, a promising fight between Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc simply never materialised.
Fans looking to defend the Abu Dhabi track could point to a few moments of the race as proof of its ability to provide entertainment. Still, the overall viewing experience doesn’t come close to that of some of the other circuits. The racing at Yas Marina simply isn’t that entertaining.
A few days before the Abu Dhabi championship-decider, Formula One’s official website posted an article written by Esme Buxton. In it, she argued for Yas Marina’s advantages as a great track for the final race, bringing up past Grand Prix to prove her point. The problem was that a lot of her examples were tainted by the bias of the race being the final one in a given season.
One of the races Buxton brings up is the last race of the tense 2016 season, in which Lewis Hamilton needed to make up 12 points to beat his teammate, Nico Rosberg. She mentions the Brit doing everything he could do back up his teammate into the drivers behind him, accidentally disproving her point. Hamilton’s strategy didn’t end up working out because the drivers behind Rosberg simply couldn’t overtake him. A part of that was surely related to his incredibly car, but a part was the fault of Abu Dhabi’s general problem. It just doesn’t provide great racing.
The same case could be argued for another race Buxton calls upon: the final Grand Prix of the 2021 season. Perhaps one of the most famous and most controversial races in the sport’s recent history, it saw two drivers coming into the weekend with the same amount of points. She mentions Hamilton’s great start and the controversial safety car, but once again, both of those have nothing to do with the track itself. The moments could have happened anywhere else and been a result of a Grand Prix filled with much more exciting racing.
The Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi only look great because they are the finales, they aren’t the finales because the track simply provides incredible racing. Many other circuits could fill the role much better. Interlagos is a track that is quite universally believed to be the best option for the last race of the season, always providing ample excitement and surprising results.
The reality is that the people’s preferences don’t matter. Despite what Formula One officials might want the fans to think, Abu Dhabi isn’t the final race because it’s the best option. It takes on the role because a lot of money goes into securing its position. The United Arab Emirates is one of the many countries using Formula One Grand Prix as a form of sportswashing, and they are willing to pay for the opportunity. At least for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with the last race being held on the Yas Marina, whether we like it or not.
I think it’s a shame to continuously finish Formula One’s seasons with underwhelming races, simply because of monetary reasons. It feels almost disrespectful to disregard the wishes of fans in favour of earning just a tiny bit more. Then again, with all the recent changes that are turning Formula One into something different from what it had been for years, there isn’t much more that can be expected.
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