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F1 standings: Max Verstappen’s win in Qatar sends title chase to final race

2025-11-30 17:36
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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

F1 standings: Max Verstappen’s win in Qatar sends title chase to final raceStory byMark SchofieldSun, November 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM UTC·3 min read

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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