The final stretch of the 2025 Formula 1 season is heating up both on and off the track. On Thursday, the news was dominated by the math behind the title fight between Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen, the confirmation of a mandatory tire test in Abu Dhabi, the behind-the-scenes of Cadillac’s debut with Sergio Pérez, and a police case involving Alpine in France.
The day began with a look back at history: the category may crown a new champion with an early win for the first time since 2009. Back then, Jenson Button secured his only title with a spare stage at the old GP held in Interlagos. Now, Norris and Piastri are the names with a real chance of entering this statistic, although the most likely scenario is a decision only in Abu Dhabi.
With three GPs left until the end of the championship, and a Sprint in Qatar, Norris is 24 points ahead of Piastri and cannot close the championship in Las Vegas. However, in Lusail, both the British and Australian drivers can become champions if they open a 25-point gap or more in the standings. Max Verstappen is still alive in the dispute, but sees a much more complicated scenario: the Dutchman is 49 points behind Norris, with 83 still in play, needing a nearly perfect combination of results in the final stretch.
In parallel to the title fight, teams have already been warned that the 2025 season does not end exactly with the final flag in Abu Dhabi. Two days after the race in Yas Marina, on December 9, all teams will have to participate in a mandatory Pirelli tire test, aimed at homologating the compounds for 2026. This will be the last chance for data collection before the FIA’s deadline, and in practice, it extends the calendar for drivers, engineers, and mechanics.
The test in Abu Dhabi will have a dual format: while the main drivers will use “mule” cars adapted to receive the 2026 specification tires, teams will also be able to put young drivers with a maximum of two GPs on the track, in a traditional Young Driver Test. Williams has already confirmed its presence with newcomers, while other teams are still defining their chosen drivers to close the year on the track.
The day also brought important news about Cadillac’s preparation for its F1 debut in 2026. Sergio Pérez completed another batch of laps at Imola, driving a completely black Ferrari SF-23, in a historic test: it was the first model of the brand in this configuration since Michael Schumacher’s time, in 1997. The focus of the activity was the Mexican driver’s training and integration with the technical structure that will be behind the new team, which will receive engines and gearboxes from Ferrari until 2028, before producing its own power unit from 2029.
Meanwhile, Verstappen again analyzed with frankness where Red Bull lost ground in the title fight this year. After impressively reducing the gap to Norris in the central part of the championship, the Dutchman admitted that the team “did not maintain the development pace” of its rivals and saw McLaren open a significant margin again in the last stages. The four-time champion also highlighted that small details in adjustments and strategies ended up costing precious points throughout the campaign.
Among the Brazilians, Gabriel Bortoleto’s name returned to the news, this time in an indigestible statistic: the Sauber rookie took the top spot in the list of highest accident costs in 2025. A survey released today shows that the Paulista leads the ranking of accumulated damage throughout the season, a reflection of incidents in different stages of the calendar. The situation reinforces the pressure for a cleaner 2026, although the team recognizes that part of these costs is part of the adaptation process of a rookie to F1.
Closing the news cycle, Alpine became a police case. French authorities opened an investigation into a mysterious invasion of the team’s headquarters in France. The incident would have occurred outside working hours, raising questions about the invaders’ objective and what exactly was accessed or rummaged through the facilities. The team, for now, avoids details, but collaborates with the investigations at a time when the sports and structural future of the manufacturer was already being questioned.
Thus, November 13th ends with Formula 1 in the final stretch atmosphere: the title is open, an extra test in Abu Dhabi, new projects taking shape, and stories that go far beyond what happens on the track.
