The three remaining contenders for the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship. Image: XPB Images
With 58 points still available across Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen all remain in contention to be crowned world champion.
It’s the first time since 2010 that at least three drivers have reached the final stretch with a mathematical shot at the title, and history suggests anything can happen.
Back then, four drivers — Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso — were separated by 25 points with two rounds remaining.
Vettel, 25 points off the lead and yet to top the standings all season, stormed back to win both remaining races and deliver Red Bull’s first drivers’ crown.
Before that, the previous instance was 2007, when Hamilton, Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were locked in a three-way fight, split by just 17 points with two rounds to go.
Once again, it was the driver furthest back who overturned the deficit, with Raikkonen snatching the title in a dramatic finale.
Two multi-driver showdowns. Two champions coming from furthest back. And now, in 2025, the pattern looms again.
Norris leads the standings on 390 points, with Piastri and Verstappen tied on 366 after the Las Vegas disqualifications reset the margins.
It means the McLaren driver’s advantage is still healthy — but far from secure — with two high-pressure weekends ahead.
How Lando Norris can win the F1 title in Qatar
For Piastri, the opportunity remains real, even if the trend is worrying.
His early-season authority has faded, with just one win and two podiums in the eight races since the summer break. It’s a stark contrast to Zandvoort, where he held a commanding 34-point lead over Norris and sat 104 clear of Verstappen.
Since then, swings of 58 points to Norris and 104 to Verstappen have dragged him back into a tight three-way scrap.
Piastri has acknowledged his recent struggles, and the lack of rhythm has shown in the results. Yet he remains firmly in the hunt — and a comeback would make him Australia’s first world champion in 45 years.
Verstappen, meanwhile, is chasing history.
The Dutchman sits level with Piastri but arrives in ferocious form, having scored 179 points in the eight races since the mid-season break.
A fifth world title would make him only the fourth driver to reach the milestone, and just the second to claim five consecutively after Michael Schumacher.
Norris, though, still controls his own destiny.
A clean, points-rich weekend in Qatar could be enough to wrap up the championship early and deliver McLaren its first drivers’ crown since 2008. If he outscores both rivals by two points across the Lusail weekend, the title is his.
But the numbers — and the history — say this fight is far from done.
So we’re asking: Who will win the F1 drivers’ championship?
