Max Verstappen can win his fifth consecutive world title, but he will have to overcome McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
F1 will be crowned champions in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both looking to dethrone Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and stop the Dutchman from winning his fifth straight title.
Norris is the favorite to win the three-way race, with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, and whoever wins what promises to be a night of drama will just need to finish on the podium at Yas Marina.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The final season before a new era in the sport began, expanding to 11 teams with new rules and engines, was one of resurgence and shock for all three contenders, all of whom made it count.
All have seven wins apiece, with the potential to extend that record even further, and are poised to deliver an edge-of-your-seat sunset finale that looks straight out of Brad Pitt’s recent blockbuster F1 movie.
All of them have also suffered from race retirements due to collisions and crashes.
Great season for McLaren, great fight back from Verstappen
Norris, who won the opening round in Melbourne last March, was trailing Piastri by 34 points at the end of August, but he turned his fortunes around with a winning streak as the Australian slumped.
He won from pole position after losing the title battle to Verstappen in Abu Dhabi last year.
“It’s been a great season. We have a great car. I’m proud of the whole team. Thank you to all the fans. We have one race left and we’ll do our best.”
Piastri, who led from Saudi Arabia in April to Mexico in October, was aiming to become Australia’s first champion since Alan Jones 45 years ago, but is now 16 points behind his teammate.
He needs to win or finish second, and we can’t wait to see how the story unfolds. Twice this century, a driver who entered the final round in third place overall came out on top.
Verstappen could join Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to win the title five years in a row, making what could be the most surprising comeback to date after falling 104 points behind Piastri in late August.
“We will keep fighting until the end,” grinned the Dutchman after last weekend’s victory in Qatar, following his win in Las Vegas the previous Saturday.
Abu Dhabi has been a happy hunting ground for him until last year, when he won four consecutive races on the left-handed circuit.
Even if Norris doesn’t finish on the podium, one more win will be enough.
McLaren’s botched strategy resulted in both cars being disqualified in Las Vegas and costing Piastri a win and Norris a podium in Qatar.
How can the runaway constructors’ champion, who boasts the second-highest single-season points of all time, miss out on winning his first double title since 1998?
Prize money and paddock pecking order
While the drama of the title unfolds, other competitors will be chasing prize money and points to move up the paddock rankings.
Mercedes and Red Bull are battling for second place, but given the latter team’s reliance on Verstappen, the former looks likely to win with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
The race will be Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda’s last start for Red Bull, before his seat is taken over by Frenchman Izak Hajar next season and engine partner Honda moves to Aston Martin.
Ferrari has one last chance to win the 2025 race, but seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is heading into his first season without a podium finish.
In Nico Hulkenberg’s 250th start in his final race before becoming Audi’s factory team, Sauber are just five points behind eighth-placed Haas, who pulled away from Aston Martin at turn seven.
Renault-owned Alpine will be racing with Renault engines for the last time before switching to Mercedes engines. For Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto, it will be his final shot at scoring his first points of the season.
