Lando Norris is still in position to win the 2025 F1 world championship despite finishing fourth in the Qatar GP.
The McLaren driver’s grip on the title was weakened last week in Las Vegas after a double disqualification and saw his lead suffer a futher blow in Qatar on Sunday night.
Norris lost second place at the start to Max Verstappen and then was on the receving end of an incorrect McLaren strategy call, with teammate Oscar Piastri also losing out.
Verstappen won the race while Norris only finished fourth, though did make a key overtake on Kimi Antonelli late in the day. Piastri had to settle for second place.
It means the 26-year-old Englishman has a 12-point advantage heading into the season-finale in Abu Dhabi next week.
But when can Norris claim the 2025 F1 world championship?
It now goes down to Abu Dhabi.
TOP-3 - F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 408 points
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 396 points
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 392 points
Norris has a 12-point lead over Verstappen, who is now in second place. Piastri is a further four points back, 16 off his teammate.
It is a normal race weekend in Abu Dhabi. Therefore, Norris will win the world championship if he finishes on the podium at the Yas Marina Circuit.
A minimum third place (15 points) in Abu Dhabi would give Norris an unassailable 27-point lead.
Fourth place (12 points) would give Norris a 24-point lead and, thus, if Verstappen then won the race, the Dutchman would take the title by one point.
Alternatively, Verstappen needs to score 13 more points than Norris. Twelve more points would put them level but, unless Verstappen won, they would both be tied on countback on seven wins each. It then goes to second-place finishes, where Norris has the advantage with eight compared to Verstappen’s five.
Piastri has an even harder task. He needs to score 16 or more points than Norris and four more points than Verstappen.
If they’re all level on points, it goes to countback. As it stands, all three drivers have won seven races, but Norris has eight second-place finishes, compared to five for Verstappen and four for Piastri.
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