Hot Formula 1 finale
Three-way battle for the title: these are the chances
12/5/2025 – 7:14 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri – all three still have a chance of winning the Formula 1 world title. t-online explains the different scenarios.
A Formula 1 season finale could hardly be more exciting. The battle for the drivers’ world championship will be decided in the last race of 2025 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Sunday from 2 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). Three drivers still have a chance of winning the title. The current world championship leader Lando Norris (McLaren) is in the best position in the title fight – but is closely followed by defending champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and his own teammate Oscar Piastri.
The starting position before the last race of the season at a glance:
“Given my position (in the rankings; editor’s note), I obviously have the most to lose,” said Norris. The 26-year-old Brit, who often struggles with nerves, added a little to himself: “It’s just a race for the World Cup.”
But it’s not that easy for Norris, because it’s: the race for the World Cup. Norris only leads Verstappen by 12 points and has 16 points more than Piastri. The Australian Piastri had looked like the number one title contender for a long time after seven wins until the end of August and is now just the outsider. “It would of course be a cool success, but I don’t want to set my expectations too high,” said the 24-year-old.
And Verstappen? At his home race in Zandvoort, Netherlands, at the end of August, he was still 104 points behind the world championship leader, and a fifth title in a row seemed almost impossible. Now he’s back in the race, thanks in part to McLaren’s mistakes. Their in-house rules, the disqualification in Las Vegas and the serious lapse in tactics last Sunday in Qatar have revived the title fight.
Verstappen is at least outwardly calm going into the season finale: “I’ve achieved everything I wanted in Formula 1. Everything else is just an extra,” explained the 28-year-old at the press conference before the race weekend. His parents will not be there in Abu Dhabi and a visit is not planned, Verstappen reported. “But I didn’t plan on being in the title fight either,” he said with a laugh: “You trust your son.”
Three drivers still have a chance of winning the title. But who would be world champion in which case? The scenarios at a glance: