How Norris can win the 2025 F1 title in Qatar GP
Lando Norris could take his maiden F1 crown on Sunday, as he tackles the main Losail race with a significant points advantage
Lando Norris could win the Formula 1 world title on Sunday in the main race of the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2025 season.
Having finished third in the sprint, Norris will go into the race as the title favourite with 396 points to his name. Team-mate Oscar Piastri, who won the sprint, has collected 374 points so far, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen on 371 after taking fourth place on Saturday.
This makes the equation rather simple: if Norris is outscored by either driver on Sunday, the title battle will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.
For Norris to win the title as early as tomorrow, he needs to maintain his advantage on Verstappen; if they go into the final round with a 25-point difference, Norris will be out of reach, having secured one more victory and three more second places in the event of a tie-breaker.
The Briton also needs to bring the gap to Piastri from 22 points to 26 points; they are level on race wins, so the Australian would be ahead in that metric if he were to triumph in Abu Dhabi and create a tied result.
In other words, if Piastri finishes in the top nine positions, Norris needs to be at least two positions ahead – or one place ahead if Piastri is second.
Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
In the unlikely event that none of those drivers scores points on Sunday, only Piastri will remain in contention alongside Norris.
Norris will win 2025 F1 title in Qatar if...
| Lando Norris | Oscar Piastri | Max Verstappen |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd or lower | 2nd or lower |
| 2nd | 4th or lower | 3rd or lower |
| 3rd | 5th or lower | 4th or lower |
| 4th | 6th or lower | 5th or lower |
| 5th | 7th or lower | 6th or lower |
| 6th | 8th or lower | 7th or lower |
| 7th | 9th or lower | 8th or lower |
| 8th | 11th or lower | 9th or lower |
If Norris is out of the top 8, how can Piastri and Verstappen remain in contention?
- Piastri will be in contention for the title in Abu Dhabi no matter what
- If Norris finishes 9th, Verstappen needs 8th or better
- If Norris finishes 10th, Verstappen needs 9th or better
- If Norris finishes 11th or lower, Verstappen needs 10th or better
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