First 2026 car fire-up shared as Verstappen manager hands Norris title verdict – round-up

Henry Valantine 31 Dec 2025 10:00 PM

Aston Martin became the first to publicly share a fire-up of its new machine.

It is time for our final F1 news round-up of 2025, and whether or not you have read one or all of these daily doses of news, we would like to thank you.

But in the here and now, let us take you through your final dose of the news ahead of a new year – with one final flourish on which to end the calendar in 2025.

Aston Martin reveals F1 2026 fire-up

Aston Martin shared its look ahead to the future and became the first team to post a video of its 2026 car firing up in its factory.

It’s a vital step in the process of car development – and perhaps even more so this year – with chassis and power unit elements brought together as the basis of a car is physically formed for the first time.

The team revealed it took place before its winter shutdown, but has now been made public.

Vermeulen: Norris should have won title earlier

In describing Max Verstappen’s season as a “work of art”, the Red Bull driver’s long-serving manager, Raymond Vermeulen, explained his belief that Lando Norris should have sewn up title glory sooner.

He told Formule 1 Magazine: “This season has been a work of art by Max.

“But if you turn it around, McLaren made a lot more mistakes.

“With that car, Norris should have become champion much earlier, of course.”

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

Verstappen given top honours among his peers

Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris to be named the Driver of the Year, in a private vote taken among 16 of the 20 drivers on the grid.

Norris took second place ahead of George Russell, both Williams drivers made it into the top 10 and, for the first time, Lewis Hamilton was not featured among the top 10 in this vote.