Whilst Norris was fighting to stay in third place and secure the world championship in Abu Dhabi, Tsunoda tried to slow the Brit down in an attempt to help Red Bull secure Max Verstappen a fifth consecutive championship.

Speaking about Tsunoda's aggressive defence, Norris stated: "I was like, Tsunoda's up next and we know from before that Tsunoda might try and do it, try and hold me up and make my life difficult, like Perez did to Lewis just a few seasons ago. A lot of that was in our script and estimations already, but I managed to get through pretty quickly and it was a bit close."

Norris continued: "It's crazy thinking about it, you do think about it straight away, if that was five centimetres closer, it's over."

Verstappen had built an early lead in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, especially as Oscar Piastri made his way past team-mate and championship rival, Norris. However, Norris needed to finish in fourth place or lower, in order for Verstappen to become world champion.

Norris had Charles Leclerc within one second of his MCL39, as the Monegasque started to put pressure on the Brit. However, with Leclerc unable to make it past Norris, it became evident that something drastic would need to happen, for Norris to lose third place and subsequently the championship.

Red Bull came over the radio to ask Tsunoda to race Norris, with the Japanese driver responding: "I know what to do."

Norris closed to Tsunoda in Turn 5, picking up DRS down the long back straight. Tsunoda, weaving side to side, almost pushed Norris onto the grass in the in-field. Norris overtook Tsunoda whilst all four tyres were off the circuit, which led to the FIA investigating the incident. Tsunoda was given a 5-second penalty for weaving on the straight.

Norris was able to finish in third position and subsequently won the 2025 world championship, despite Verstappen winning the race and closing in the championship standings, with the Dutchman ending up just 2-points adrift of Norris.

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