{"id":203339,"date":"2025-10-10T18:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T18:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/203339\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T18:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T18:58:10","slug":"who-wins-the-f1-championship-six-scenarios-plus-hadjars-math-y-race-helmet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/203339\/","title":{"rendered":"Who wins the F1 championship? Six scenarios; Plus, Hadjar\u2019s math-y race helmet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic\u2019s twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday.<\/p>\n

Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we\u2019re wondering why the Singapore GP broadcast didn\u2019t show more of the moon racing around the planet.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n

How This EndsSix scenarios for the drivers\u2019 championship<\/p>\n

The 2025 F1 season is hurtling toward one of the closest finishes in years, and we have no idea who\u2019s going to win<\/a>. There are six races left, and three sprint weekends. (Doesn\u2019t sound like much, but that\u2019s two whole months, folks.) The constructors\u2019 championship is wrapped up<\/a>, but the drivers\u2019 title? Still anyone\u2019s game:<\/p>\n

Oscar Piastri, McLaren \u2013 336 pts
\nLando Norris, McLaren \u2013 314 pts
\nMax Verstappen, Red Bull \u2013 273 pts
\nGeorge Russell, Mercedes \u2013 237 pts<\/p>\n

So, on this off-week Friday, let\u2019s imagine how this plays out.<\/p>\n

Scenario 1: Abu Dhabi showdown\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is both what we\u2019re likely headed for and what we all want, no? The teammates trade wins throughout the run-in, arriving at the early December finale separated by just seven points. Piastri leads going into that race and just holds off Norris to win in the closing laps.<\/p>\n

Precedent: Hamilton vs. Verstappen to the final lap in 2021.
\nPat Verdict\u2122\ufe0f: Absolutely. This is the dream.<\/p>\n

Scenario 2: Piastri\u2019s dominant coronation\u00a0<\/p>\n

Piastri stays in the lead. Comfortably, even. Ho-hum. Boo.<\/p>\n

Scenario 3: Norris\u2019 redemption arc<\/p>\n

Piastri suffers two DNFs due to mechanical failures and a collision. Norris capitalizes with five wins in six races plus two sprint wins. The championship swings dramatically in the final races as McLaren tries to remain neutral (this scenario could bleed into the next one).<\/p>\n

Precedent:\u00a0Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen won in 2007 from 17 points back.
\nPat Verdict\u2122\ufe0f: Would enjoy. Just good storytelling.<\/p>\n

Scenario 4: Team-orders chaos<\/p>\n

McLaren has deftly avoided team-orders drama so far, but Verstappen winning changes everything. After Verstappen rattles off three straight victories, the team gets nervous. In Las Vegas, the pit asks Norris to let Piastri through, causing internal tension and a media firestorm that lasts through the Abu Dhabi finale. Piastri wins the title amid a media firestorm. Norris leaves McLaren. Netflix gains 300,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n

Precedent:\u00a0Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes in 2013, though under very different (less silly) circumstances.
\nPat Verdict\u2122\ufe0f: I do love a good Discourse in the morning.<\/p>\n

Scenario 5: Verstappen\u2019s miracle run<\/p>\n

Verstappen has proven again this season that he can dominate when the car is hooked up. So here, Red Bull finds a breakthrough upgrade, and Verstappen wins all six remaining races and sprints while the McLarens split points and suffer reliability issues. Verstappen pulls off one of F1\u2019s greatest comebacks.<\/p>\n

Precedent: In 2012, Vettel was 44 points behind Alonso at midseason, then won four races to claim the title by three points.
\nPat Verdict\u2122\ufe0f: Who doesn\u2019t love seeing the best athletes doing magical, history-making things, leaving their rivals absolutely flummoxed in their wake? I\u2019d be totally in.<\/p>\n

Scenario Elmo Chaos GIF: Russell wins<\/p>\n

Mercedes introduces a revolutionary floor upgrade to the United States GP, unlocking 0.5s per lap, which is later utilized by NASA to develop a Wormhole Ramp for inter-universe travel. Russell goes on an unprecedented winning streak while discovering his latent time-bending abilities, enabling him to win the Brazil sprint twice. Meanwhile, McLaren\u2019s title fight implodes spectacularly. Piastri and Norris collide on every remaining first lap and leave the team after the Qatar race, retiring from the sport in fits of rage. Red Bull\u2019s car performance tails off. Verstappen finishes second.<\/p>\n

Final result: Russell \u221e; Verstappen 402; Piastri\/Norris 0.<\/p>\n

Precedent:\u00a0That one time in Mario Kart when everyone ahead of me got blue-shelled simultaneously on the final lap.
\nPat Verdict\u2122\ufe0f: Yes.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Sainz of DiscontentThe F1 broadcast drama, explained<\/p>\n

Carlos Sainz\u00a0<\/a>sparked debate<\/a> over F1\u2019s television coverage priorities, alleging the Singapore GP broadcast missed key moments, including his overtakes and Fernando Alonso\u2019s late pursuit of Lewis Hamilton. Sainz also took issue with the \u201cincreasing trend\u201d of shots of drivers\u2019 partners and celebrities in the paddock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other stuff is fine, but as long as you don\u2019t miss what\u2019s essential,\u201d Sainz told Spanish radio, suggesting F1 is \u201cexaggerating a bit showing famous people and girlfriends.\u201d<\/p>\n

F1 pushed back, insisting it will \u201cnever compromise the key focus \u2014 the racing on track\u201d while it\u2019s providing \u201cgreat context moments of the grandstands, high-profile guests and the locations we race at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sainz was picking up on a fan concern<\/a>, as comments and social media buzzed with it. I didn\u2019t realize some viewers think they\u2019re missing key racing because broadcasts cut to garage or pit wall shots.<\/p>\n

This also shows F1\u2019s growing pains as it balances traditional racing fans with newer ones attracted by Netflix\u2019s \u201cDrive to Survive.\u201d<\/a> The series has expanded F1\u2019s reach, emphasizing personalities and paddock drama alongside racing. I\u2019m not surprised that the sport\u2019s diehard followers, already upset by the encroachment, don\u2019t appreciate cutaways from the racing action.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Carlos Sainz climbed from 13th to 10th in Singapore over the final 10 laps (Meg Oliphant \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As I wrote in a column this week<\/a>, I\u2019m not sure this was the race to complain about.<\/p>\n

(I joked to a colleague that this wasn\u2019t my first column for\u00a0The Athletic. Newsletter counts for 200.)<\/p>\n

My argument\u00a0was that while Sainz\u2019s concerns about broadcast priorities are valid in principle, the Singapore GP wasn\u2019t actually an example of the problem. The broadcast correctly prioritized the championship battle, and the shots of partners\/celebrities were minimal over 62 laps.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t believe I\u2019ve spilled so many words on this.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for an even more nuanced take,\u00a0I highly encourage reading Madeline\u2019s first answer in today\u2019s mailbag<\/a>. I thought she wrapped the whole saga up perfectly. And now to her in the paddock!<\/p>\n

Inside the Paddock with Madeline ColemanSo much for that FIA election drama?<\/p>\n

Rumblings about the FIA presidential election surfaced in recent days as the list of eligible candidates for the World Motor Sport Council became public. Each candidate must compile a Presidential List, which must be drawn from the list of eligible individuals.<\/p>\n

The seven vice-presidents must come from six specific regions (including two from Europe), and include the president of the senate, the deputy president for automobile mobility and tourism and the deputy president for sport.<\/p>\n

Based on the document published on the FIA\u2019s website, only one person is listed from South America: Fabiana Ecclestone, from Brazil. She\u2019s held the position of FIA Vice President for Sport \u2013 South America since December 2021, as part of the current president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem\u2019s administration. Given that an individual can only appear on one candidate\u2019s list, it looked unlikely that the other hopefuls \u2014 Tim Mayer, Laura Villars and Virginie Philippot \u2014 would be able to put together a complete Presidential List.<\/p>\n

Villars confirmed that \u201cformal exchanges are currently ongoing between my legal team and the FIA Administration, as the current electoral procedure raises legitimate concerns of conformity with the FIA Statutes.\u201d Additionally, her team obtained \u201cindependent legal opinions\u201d that \u201calso confirm that several recent procedural changes are inconsistent with the Statutes and must be corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that, under Article 1.3 of the FIA Statutes, the FIA is obligated to maintain the highest standards of governance, transparency and democracy. Villars said that, to ensure these principles are fully upheld consistent with the FIA\u2019s designation as a non-profit association under French law, \u201call options \u2014 including legal and judicial ones \u2014 therefore remain under consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with these comments, Villars released her official programme, and the course she aims to set is \u201cto make the FIA more participative, more accountable, and more united.\u201d We\u2019ll cover more about her manifesto in the coming days and weeks.<\/p>\n

ICYMI: Here is our exclusive Q&A with her<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Helm of HadjarWhy one F1 rookie\u2019s helmet features math equations<\/p>\n

While most F1 drivers decorate their helmets with flashy graphics, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar took a different approach: He covered his with physics equations:\u00a0E=mc\u00b2. Newton\u2019s laws. Schr\u00f6dinger, Heisenberg, Planck, and, most fittingly, Bernoulli\u2019s equation for fluid mechanics (that\u2019s the one that actually explains how air flows around an F1 car).<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old designed the helmet with his father, Yassine, a physicist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because of them that we actually get to race, you know?\u201d Hadjar explains.<\/p>\n

I loved this story.<\/p>\n

Outside the points<\/p>\n

This week, IndyCar champion Alex Palou told a U.K. court that McLaren CEO Zak Brown sold him a false dream \u201cbased on lies and false impressions\u201d, which caused him to withdraw from a deal to join the team. Read on here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s end with two pieces you might have missed from us this week:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic\u2019s twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,12716,82],"class_list":["post-203339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-motorsports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}