For the first time since 2010, three drivers are still alive in the chase for the Formula One drivers’ championship entering the final race weekend of the season. Lando Norris leads the way, but four-time reigning champ Max Verstappen and Norris’s McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri are within striking distance going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Norris enters the weekend with 408 points, with Verstappen sitting at 396 points. Piastri, who led for much of the season, has dropped back to third, but is still just 16 points shy of Norris at 392.
So how can each of the top three drivers emerge Sunday hoisting a trophy? Let’s break it down, one at a time.
How Lando Norris Can Win 2025 F1 Championship
Norris heads to Abu Dhabi in pole position, so to speak. With back-to-back wins in Mexico and Brazil and Piastri slipping since the summer break, the 26-year-old seemed poised to run away with his first title. Then, a shocking disqualification in Las Vegas for both he and Piastri leveled the playing field and brought both of his competitors, namely Verstappen, fully back into the fray.
Even still, it’s Norris’s championship to lose this weekend. He just needs to finish on the podium and he’ll become the first McLaren driver to win a title since Lewis Hamilton did so in 2008.
Scenarios Where Norris Wins 2025 Title
| Norris finishes ... | Verstappen must finish ... | Piastri must finish ... |
|---|---|---|
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd | Doesn't matter | Doesn't matter |
| 4th | 2nd or lower | Doesn't matter |
| 5th | 2nd or lower | Doesn't matter |
| 6th | 2nd or lower | 2nd or lower |
| 7tn | 2nd or lower | 2nd or lower |
| 8th | 3rd or lower | 2nd or lower |
| 9th | 4th or lower | 2nd or lower |
| 10th | 4th or lower | 2nd or lower |
| 11th or worse | 4th or lower | 3rd or lower |
How Max Verstappen Can Win 2025 F1 Championship
If you’d asked Verstappen as recently as August if he could win his fifth straight title this season, he probably would’ve scoffed. In fact, he basically did exactly that, downplaying his chances at every turn.
Here's an updated comparison on what Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri & Max Verstappen have done this year 👀
— Daniel Valente 🏎️ (@F1GuyDan) December 3, 2025
Who's had the best season? pic.twitter.com/PJLZnN4rse
But he made up 108 points to overtake Piastri in just eight race weekends and has won five times during that stretch, pulling level with both McLaren drivers with seven Grand Prix victories this season. This may be the most impressive stretch of Verstappen’s career, which is a staggering accomplishment considering he’s the reigning four-time champion.
Unlike 2021, he doesn’t control his own destiny this time around. He must finish on the podium to have any chance, and hope that Norris finishes at least worse than third—something the McLaren driver hasn’t done on pure pace since Baku in late September.
Scenarios Where Verstappen Wins 2025 Title
| Verstappen finishes ... | Norris must finish ... | Piastri must finish ... |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 4th or lower | Doesn't matter |
| 2nd | 8th or lower | 3rd or lower |
| 3rd | 9th or lower | 2nd or lower |
How Oscar Piastri Can Win 2025 F1 Championship
This season has been a tale of two halves for Piastri, who at one point seemed to be completely in control of both his McLaren and the rest of the field. He won seven races before the summer break, capping the first stage of 2025 with a victory in the Netherlands while Norris didn’t finish.
And yet, he finds himself in third going into the final weekend. A downturn of form at the wrong time, due likely to a stretch of circuits that hasn’t meshed with Piastri’s driving style, has seen him not only fall back behind Norris and Verstappen but land on the podium just twice in eight Grands Prix. He’s scored zero points on two occasions during that same sequence of races.
Piastri is still just 24 and appears to be getting better with time, but 2025 may come to be known as a what-if moment. That is unless, of course, everything breaks his way in Abu Dhabi.
| Piastri finishes ... | Norris must finish ... | Verstappen must finish ... |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 6th or lower | Doesn't matter |
| 2nd | 10th or lower | 4th or lower |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Lando Norris, Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri Can Win F1 Title at Abu Dhabi.
