The three-way fight for the 2025 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship between Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri is heading to Yas Marina, and the final race of the season.
F1 standings: Max Verstappen’s win in Qatar sends title chase to final race
A look at the updated F1 Drivers’ Championship standings after Max Verstappen’s Qatar Grand Prix victory
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Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
Verstappen’s stunning win at the Qatar Grand Prix kept the Red Bull driver in contention for his fifth Drivers’ Championship, and potentially one of the greatest comebacks in F1 history. Following the Dutch Grand Prix Verstappen trailed Piastri — who then led the Drivers’ Championship standings — by 104 points as he was in third behind Piastri and Norris.
Verstappen took the win ahead of Piastri and Carlos Sainz Jr., with Norris finishing fourth.
The Red Bull driver now heads to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix now just 12 points behind Norris, and in second place ahead of Piastri.
Here are the updated standings following the Qatar Grand Prix:
Position | Driver | Team | Points | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 408 | -- |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 396 | +1 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 392 | -1 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 309 | -- |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 230 | -- |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 152 | -- |
| 7 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 150 | -- |
| 8 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 73 | -- |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams | 64 | +2 |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | VCARB | 51 | -1 |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber | 49 | -1 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 48 | -- |
| 13 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 41 | -- |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 38 | -- |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 33 | +2 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 32 | -1 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 32 | -1 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 22 | -- |
| 19 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 19 | -- |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 0 | -- |
| 21 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | 0 | -- |
F1 title permutations for Abu Dhabi
Despite failing to clinch his first F1 Drivers’ Championship in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lando Norris can still claim the title at Yas Marina.
Norris heads to Abu Dhabi with a 12-point lead over Verstappen and a 16-point lead over Piastri. If Norris finishes ahead of his two rivals at Yas Marina, he will clinch the title.
Norris can still win a title even if Verstappen wins in Abu Dhabi. If the Red Bull driver wins next weekend, Norris will still claim his first Drivers’ Championship as long as he finishes on the podium. If he finishes second to Verstappen, Norris will clinch the title by five points.
If Verstappen wins and Norris finishes third, the McLaren driver will clinch the F1 Drivers’ Championship by just two points.
As for Verstappen, he will win the title with a victory, and a fourth-place finish from Norris (or worse). If Verstappen finishes second, then he would have a six-point advantage over Norris, meaning the McLaren driver would need to finish sixth or better to clear Verstappen on points.
Interestingly enough, if Verstappen finishes second, a seventh-place finish from Norris would see them finish the year level with points. Verstappen’s win in the Qatar Grand Prix now means he is tied with Norris for Grand Prix victories, which is the first tiebreaker.
The second tiebreaker? Second-place finishes. Norris heads to Abu Dhabi with eight P2 finishes this year, while Verstappen has five. That means that if the two finish tied, (and Verstappen has not won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) then Norris would win any tiebreaker.
As for Piastri’s title hopes, a win would move him to 417 points on the season, nine points ahead of Norris’ current total and 21 points ahead of Verstappen’s. In this scenario he would need Norris to finish sixth or worse, and Verstappen to finish second or worse.
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