Photo Credit: F1 Website
It’s been one hell of a season in 2025, with three drivers now in contention for the World Drivers’ Championship title.
The year started off strong for McLaren’s very own Oscar Piastri, 24, with the Australian well-off in terms of points, leading the championship for almost the entirety of the year until the Mexico City Grand Prix.
In came the era of British McLaren Racing driver, Lando Norris, 26, who over took his teammate in the fight for the 2025 title – leading the rest on 408 points into the last round of the year.
Each driver has had their fair share of wins this season, both McLaren drivers holding 7 Grand Prix wins over the season, and Max Verstappen with 7 of his own Grand Prix wins this year.
The points, while arguably somewhat set in stone by some fans online, can be seen as any man’s win ahead of Sunday night’s race, if the right conditions and strategies play out in a desired way for each driver. Max Verstappen, 28, a 4 x World Champion, is just 12 points away from Norris. However, all is not lost for Piastri, with his points gap just 16 behind his teammate.
Title points break-down
A race win is 25 points on the leaderboard, with p2 18 points, and p3 15 points meaning either Verstappen or Piastri aren’t out of title contention yet if each were to land on the top two steps of the podium, with Norris behind in 7th or less – with a 6th place losing Norris the Championship by 1-point if Piastri places 1st. For Verstappen, if he comes in on the top step, and Norris 6th, Verstappen will clinch the title by 5 points.
If Norris were to place third on the podium on Sunday night with a top step for Verstappen, he would clinch the title with just a small 3-point gap. For Piastri on the top step with his teammate in 3rd, he would lose his title fight by a painful 6-point gap, meaning Norris must finish on 423 or more points (p1 or p2) to secure his maiden title win.
The possibilities don’t just end there… if Norris is out of the title contention in 7th or less position on a chequered race flag, the logistics for Piastri and Verstappen tighten for an excitingly tight fight – worth staying up for in Australia and New Zealand.
For Aussie-favourite, Piastri has to remain on the top step and Verstappen in 2nd or 3rd, and he will win the championship with a 3-6. point gap. If Verstappen is above Piastri, the title is his, making it his 5th in a row, finishing on 421 points – that’s all if Norris remains outside the title contention by placing out of the top 10.
Standings possible – dependant on race position by chequered flag:
PIA P1 – 417
PIA P2 – 411
PIA P3 – 407
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VER P1 – 421
VER P2 – 414
VER P3 – 411
VER P4 – 404
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NOR P1 – 433
NOR P2- 426
NOR P3 – 423
NOR P4 – 420
NOR P6 – 416
NOR P10 – 409
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Further news heading into the weekend
With mildly warm weather set over the weekend – a top of 26 degrees C – anything is possible, with the field set to hit the track in FP1 tonight at 8:30pm AEDT, giving fans and teams a taste of what’s to come with car compatibility, tyre behaviour, and track conditions.
Media day takes place on Thursdays in the F1 Paddock, meaning ahead of FP1, the rumours are well alight before the cars are even close to going on track.
Allegedly, Piastri has been banned by his team from individually speaking to Australian media outlets ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, raising eyebrows globally – however all media sessions have been axed for both drivers, except for the FIA official Press Conference.
Media outlets have already been asking a series of awkward title papaya-rules questions aimed at both McLaren drivers in the FIA press conference, creating an interesting team dynamic, throwing in an nonchalant Verstappen who is well and truly ready to take on the racing.
“It’s not really up to me. I wouldn’t, I”m not going to ask it, I don’t wanna ask it because I don’t necessarily think its a fair question. At the same time, if thats how it end and max wins? Well, that’s it, congrats to him.” said Lando Norris on if he would ask to switch places to win the championship.
“It’s not something we’ve discussed, so yeah. Until I know what’s expected, I don’t have an answer.” said Oscar Piastri on his take of the above.
“Personally, I think I would, just because I feel I’m always like that. That’s just how I am.” – Lando Norris on if he’d let teammate and rival pass for the championship title if roles were reversed.
Backlash has already been spun against McLaren from Mercedes AMG rival George Russell, the Brit pointing out the injustice to both drivers if Papaya Rules were to continue over the weekend.
“I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who is also in a short of a championship, in the very last race, to move over for your teammate,
“I think if it were, in other seasons gone by, lets just say Checo and Max, or you know Barrichello and Schumacher, when clearly one driver is the one going for the championship, and if in the last race, the guy who doesn’t have a shot of winning the championship moves over, that is absolutely reasonable – I think every single driver would do that,
“But for me, I don’t think it would be fair at all (For Piastri and Norris), I think they both need to be given a shot. And if they lose out because of it, you just need to say the other guy did a better job, and that’s racing. thats how it should be.” George Russell on potential use of “Papaya Rules” in Abu Dhabi.
Until next time,
Tayla Talks ❤
Tayla Talks 
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