2025 Formula 1 Championship
The 2025 Formula 1 season is hurtling toward its climax, with three race weekends remaining: Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. Only Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen remain mathematically in contention for the Drivers’ Championship.
It is remarkable that there are still three drivers who have a chance to win the world championship. Last year, the title was already decided in Las Vegas because Verstappen had such a large points lead. In 2023, this happened in Qatar. But this year is starting to resemble 2021, when Max Verstappen literally won the world championship from Hamilton in the final lap of the last race of the season. They started the race with equal points. Below, you can read what each driver needs to do to become champion.
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How Lando Norris Can Still Win the Championship
If you’re looking at pure numbers, Norris is the only driver who can control his own destiny from here. Yet, despite his strong lead, he cannot wrap up the title in Las Vegas. The maths simply won’t allow it. Even with a dominant win in Vegas and both rivals failing to score, too many points remain afterward.
Where Norris can clinch it, though, is at the Qatar Sprint.
If things go well in Vegas and he stretches his lead to around 49 points, then all he needs in the sprint is a small advantage — even outscoring Piastri by just two points could mathematically seal the title. Verstappen could win the sprint and still remain too far behind overall if Norris finishes close enough.
The interesting part? Even if Norris ends up tied on points at the end of the season with Verstappen, the tiebreak falls his way due to having more Grand Prix wins this year. That gives him a helpful buffer that could become crucial if things tighten up.
How Max Verstappen Can Still Win the Title
Verstappen’s path is the hardest, but it isn’t impossible. He needs something close to a miracle — but miracles sometimes happen in Formula 1.
To stay alive in the fight, Verstappen essentially has to:
- win every remaining race
- win the Qatar Sprint
- hope both Norris and Piastri return a pair of unusually weak weekends.
Even a small points loss to Norris in Las Vegas could mathematically eliminate him, so Vegas is a do-or-die weekend for the reigning champion. His performance must be perfect from here on out. The smallest mistake, a slow stop, an undercut that fails, or a mistimed safety car could spell the end.
There’s even a hypothetical three-way tie scenario at the end of the season, but that requires a bizarre set of race results and is more a mathematical curiosity than a realistic expectation.
Still, Verstappen remains Verstappen and as long as he’s still in the hunt, McLaren can’t relax.
How Oscar Piastri Can Fight Back for the Title
Piastri often gets overshadowed in the conversation because his teammate leads the standings, but make no mistake: he is very much a live contender.
What helps Piastri is that his route to becoming champion doesn’t rely on extreme scenarios. He doesn’t need to win every race from here. He simply needs:
- consistent top finishes
- no major errors
- to keep Norris within arm’s reach going into the final two rounds
If Norris hits trouble at any point a DNF, a poor strategic call, or even a low scoring result, Piastri could quickly shift into the driver’s seat. His season has been built on steady, reliable pace, and that characteristic may become his greatest weapon in the final stretch.
What Makes the Final Races So Unpredictable
The closing stages of this title fight are shaped not just by driver performance but also by the nature of the upcoming tracks.
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Las Vegas brings chaos: slippery tarmac, cold temperatures, and high-speed straights that punish mistakes.
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Qatar is extremely physical and features the sprint race that could decide everything.
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Abu Dhabi often produces tense championship finales and its long straights make for strategic battles.
So, Who’s the Favourite?
Mathematically, the advantage sits clearly with Lando Norris. The earliest he can clinch the title is the Qatar Sprint, and if he performs strongly in Las Vegas, the sprint could be decisive.
Oscar Piastri remains the realistic challenger if Norris slips up.
Max Verstappen, while still alive in the hunt, needs everything to fall perfectly over the final three weekends.
One thing is certain: this championship is not settled yet, and the final races promise the kind of high-tension drama that only Formula 1 can deliver.
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