Max Verstappen won the final race of the 2025 F1 season after he won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but it was not enough for the Red Bull driver to win the Driver’s Championship.

A third place finish for Lando Norris meant that the McLaren driver became the 2025 F1 World Champion by a margin of 2 points to Verstappen, who narrowly missed out on becoming only the second driver in F1 history to win 5 world championship titles in a row.

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished in 14th position in his final race as a Red Bull driver, with the driver earning a penalty for a move pulled on Norris in the course of the race.

The final standings in the 2025 F1 season will see Verstappen end the campaign as runner up. The Dutchman finished the season with 421 points, just 2 behind champion Norris. This was despite Verstappen winning more races, with the Red Bull driver winning 8 races to the 7 taken by each McLaren, although both McLarens picked up more podiums than Verstappen. Oscar Piastri, who was also vying to win the title in Abu Dhabi, finished third, 11 behind Verstappen and 13 off winner Norris.

Tsunoda ended the campaign with 33 points, with the Japanese driver finishing the campaign in 17th place in the standings, level on points with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll but behind the Canadian on countback.

For the second season in a row, Red Bull finished in third in the Constructors Championships. The Milton Keynes-based team finished the season 18 points behind Mercedes in second place, 382 behind runaway winners McLaren and 53 ahead of 4th place Ferrari.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was set up as a grand finale for the 2025 F1 season, with 3 drivers vying to become world champion. Verstappen, who was over 100 points behind Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix in late August, had clawed his way back into it, but needed a win and for Norris to finish off the podium to become a 5 time champion.

Verstappen and Norris had qualified on the front row, and on the start, Verstappen was able to maintain first position in the race.

The two McLarens swapped early on with Piastri passing Norris, with the Australian providing pressure on the Dutch driver in the early phase before dropping back.

In the early stage, Verstappen’s hopes were raised by Charles Leclerc applying pressure on Norris, but the McLaren soon broke the DRS for Leclerc to try and mount an attack.

Norris opted to pit early to cover off the early stopping George Russell, and the McLaren would soon have to make passes on out-of-sync cars. One of these was Tsunoda, who started 10th and Red Bull opted to keep running long.

An incident soon arose when Tsunoda and Norris did battle on lap 23. Tsunoda made multiple attempts to weave on the straight, which ended up leading to Norris passing Tsunoda off track. This matter was raised to the stewards, who chose to penalise Tsunoda with a 5 second time penalty for weaving in multiple directions, while no further action was taken against Norris.

Verstappen would pit shortly after to cover off Norris, with the Dutch driver later catching and passing Piastri as the McLaren’s hard tyres fading.

Tsunoda meanwhile would later box, taking his penalty and coming out in 18th. He would recover a few positions, but not enough to fight for points.

Out front, Verstappen remained on track to win the race but needed help from others further back to make it a championship. This help wouldn’t come, however. Leclerc briefly looked on course to fight Norris, but the Ferrari’s tyres wore out and the chance of an overtake diminished.

While Verstappen was able to take a 5th win in 6 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix races, and a 71st race win in his career, Norris’ third place was enough to see him just hold on, handing McLaren a first driver’s title since 2008 and a first driver’s and constructor’s double since 1998.

Luton Town will be hosting Swindon Town in the next round of the EFL Trophy after their midweek win over Exeter City.

The Hatters had progressed to the Second Knockout Round after a 4-0 win over their fellow League One side in midweek.

In the draw earlier today (06/12), Jack Wilshere’s side will now welcome the League Two high-fliers in the next stage of the competition.

Swindon, who booked their place with a 1-0 midweek win over League One strugglers Peterborough, will make the trip to Bedfordshire in a tie scheduled for the week beginning January 12th.

Full details including date, kick-off time and match tickets, will be confirmed in due course.

Luton last met Swindon in League Two in the 2017/18 campaign, with both sides winning the respective away games in a campaign that saw the Hatters lose 3-0 at home to the Robins, but gain revenge with a 5-0 away win in Wiltshire on Boxing Day 2017.

The midweek win saw Luton run up a 4-0 win over Exeter as they won an all-League One contest at Kenilworth Road. Two goals by Lasse Nordas along with strikes by Shayden Morris and Zack Nelson did the job for the home side.

Luton Town are out of the FA Cup after a penalty shootout defeat at League Two Fleetwood Town.

After a 2-2 draw at Highbury, the match would be decided with penalties, and saves by Fleetwood keeper David Harrington in the shootout to deny Luton duo Jacob Brown and Liam Walsh proved the deciding factor as Fleetwood took the spot in Friday’s Third Round draw.

The Hatters had fought back during regular time, with Jerry Yates and Teden Mengi both scoring equalisers to strikes from the home side’s Ethan Ennis, who had made it 1-0 and 2-1.

But the Hatters’ defeat in the shootout puts them out of the FA Cup at the Second Round stage. It is the first time since the 2015/16 season that Luton have failed to reach the Third Round.

Having made it through an eventful First Round tie against National League side Forest Green Rovers, Luton’s next FA Cup assignment saw them make the trip to face League Two outfit Fleetwood Town in Lancashire.

The first half would pass by without any goals. Luton’s best chance came when Lasse Nordas rounded Harrington but got outfoxed by Fleetwood defenders who were able to cover and block his shot, while Fleetwood spurned an opportunity when Ryan Graydon fired a snapshot straight at James Shea.

The opening goal of the game came for Fleetwood in the 65th minute. A cross into the box from the Cod Army’s right flank found Ennis, and a first-time strike from the Manchester United loanee ended up going through the legs of Luton keeper Shea into the back of the net.

As heavy rain began to pelt the ground, it was Luton who would find an equaliser 8 minutes later. Gideon Kodua picked up the ball on the right flank for the visitors, and his low cross found Yates at the back post, who duly tapped the ball into the back of the net.

Luton nearly completed the comeback when defender Mads Andersen would see a header just clear the top of the bar.

But Fleetwood would come back and they retook the lead in the 83rd minute. Matty Virtue’s pass picked out Ennis, who cut inside before bending a nice strike into the top corner to put the home side back in front.

It looked as though Fleetwood might get the job done, but in second half stoppage time, Luton came back to snatch another equaliser. Reuell Walters’ cross was only half-cleared to defender Mengi, who placed a fine strike into the bottom corner for a 93rd minute equaliser.

The best chance either side conjured up in extra-time saw Harrington thwart the Hatters’ Shayden Morris, but with no more goals scored in extra-time, it meant penalties would determine the victor.

In front of the section containing Luton fans, the visitors scored their first two penalties, only for Brown and then Walsh to be denied by Harrington with Luton’s third and fourth kicks.

Fleetwood, who scored all their penalties, duly confirmed victory when Harrison Neal scored their fourth spot-kick, in the process confirming the cup upset and ending Luton’s interest in the FA Cup for another season.

Jack Wilshere’s side now turn their attentions to league action, with a midweek trip to East London to play Leyton Orient as their next assignment.

MK Dons will be in the Third Round of the FA Cup after they recorded a 3-1 win over Oldham Athletic at Stadium MK.

Joe Tomlinson and Liam Kelly scored goals either side of half-time to give Paul Warne’s hosts an advantage against their fellow League Two opponents.

A penalty scored by Oldham sub Luke Hannant had seen the visitors threaten to take the tie to extra-time, but a goal at the start of injury time from substitute Nathaniel Mendez-Laing clinched it for the hosts.

Victory means that the Dons will progress to Round 3 of the FA Cup for the first time since the 2020/21 campaign.

Having risen into the automatic promotion places in League Two, the Dons faced the challenge of competing for the next stage of the FA Cup. It would see them take on a familiar opponent in the form of Oldham Athletic, who had previously visited Stadium MK on the opening day of the season in a 0-0 draw.

Oldham began the day with some bright attacking play, although it didn’t yield big chances. Jake Caprice blasted a strike wide from outside the box, before Michael Mellon saw a shot from a tight angle kept out by Craig MacGillivray.

As the half wore on, MK Dons began to offer more of an attacking threat, with Aaron Collins prodding an effort wide from Callum Paterson’s cross before the same man had a strike blocked by Oldham’s Dynel Simeu.

Laurence Maguire and Paterson would later see strikes blocked at corners, but the first half was threatening to peter out until MK Dons found a breakthrough in the latter phase of the half.

Oldham had initially cleared a Dons corner, but the hosts maintained pressure and Maguire’s flick from a second ball into the box found Tomlinson, who lashed the ball home from the edge of the box.

Having got the lead late in the half, the Dons pushed on. Will Collar would come close in the opening minutes of the half, with the keeper having two attempts denied by Matthew Hudson’s double save.

A counter-attack also nearly paid dividends for the hosts. From Mellon’s long-throw, the hosts flew forward in a move that ended with Paterson striking the post and Collins putting the ball in only to be deemed to have fouled Hudson.

Oldham nearly made the most of reprieve, with MacGillivray making a flying stop to deny Tom Pett after the Latics man had got free on the edge of the box.

It would then become 2-0 to MK Dons just before the hour. The hosts had seen an attack seemingly fizzle out, but Kelly raced onto the loose ball and guided a fine first-time strike into the back of the net beyond the reach of Hudson.

The game’s momentum initially slowed down, with both sides making a wave of substitutions with one eye on midweek matches. The best opportunity in this phase would see Dons sub Mendez-Laing have a strike blocked.

But with 15 minutes to go, Oldham would get a lifeline. Maguire fouled Oldham sub Mike Fondop in the box, and from the penalty spot, Hannant sent MacGillivray the wrong way to reduce the home side’s advantage.

MK Dons would nearly brush off any concerns of an Oldham comeback, however, with substitute Jon Mellish playing a cross for Collar, whose header was tipped over by Hudson.

Mellish’s next contribution was less impressive, however, with the wing-back starting a melee for which both he and Fondop earned bookings.

In the end, the Dons would wrap up the win and with it a place in the Third Round. Kelly’s long ball released Mendez-Laing, who got there ahead of Hudson after the Oldham keeper had raced off his line. Mendez-Laing duly rounded the Oldham keeper and rolled it into the empty net, confirming MK Dons’ progress into the next round.

MK Dons: MacGillivray – Offord, Sanders (Ekpiteta 45), Maguire (Mellish 78) – Jones (Nemane 60), Thompson-Sommers, Kelly, Collar, Tomlinson – Paterson (Mendez-Laing 60), Collins (Gilbey 60)

Subs not used: Trueman, Mellish, Tripp, Waller, Burke

Goal: Tomlinson (42), Kelly (57), Mendez-Laing (90+2)

Booked: Maguire, Mellish

Oldham: Hudson – Simeu (Sutton 62), Daniels, Monthe – Caprice, Pett (Payne 62), Woods, Stevens (Hannant 62), Robson – Drummond (Quigley 62), Mellon (Fondop 71)

Subs not used: Donaghy, Ogle, Charsley, Fondop, Morris

Goal: Hannant (pen 75)

Booked: Robson, Monthe, Fondop