With McLaren’s constructor’s title already secured after a dominant season, the F1 championship fight is now intensifying nicely with a three-way battle for the World Championship. What initially seemed like a duel between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris is now being strongly contested by the defending World Champion, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
After a commanding victory at the U.S. Grand Prix, where he started from pole and led every lap, Verstappen has slashed the gap to leader Piastri to just 40 points, having been 104 points behind at the end of August. Norris finished second in Austin, reducing Piastri’s lead to just 14 points, with five rounds and two sprints remaining.
Verstappen also won the Saturday sprint from pole position at the Circuit of the Americas, while the McLarens collided and retired, resulting in a weekend of maximum points for the four-time world champion.
Verstappen has clearly found his rhythm, winning three of the last five races and finishing second in the other two.
How can Verstappen defend his title?
Verstappen can defend his title if he consistently outperforms the two McLaren drivers over the final five races. He is 40 points behind leader Piastri, but with 141 points still available from the remaining five races (25 points each) and two sprints (8 points each), the gap is easily closable. If Verstappen continues his current winning form while Piastri and Norris take points from each other by battling for podium spots, he should be in a firm position to overtake them both to claim the title. Essentially, he needs to keep winning and hope the McLarens don’t finish 1-2 ahead of him too often.
F1 2025 Driver’s Championship Leaderboard
| Pos. | Driver | Nationality | Team | Pts. |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren | 346 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren | 332 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 306 |
| 4 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes | 252 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Ferrari | 192 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Ferrari | 142 |
| 7 | Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes | 89 |
| 8 | Alexander Albon | THA | Williams | 73 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Kick Sauber | 41 |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | Racing Bulls | 39 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Williams | 38 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin | 37 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin | 32 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Racing Bulls | 30 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Haas F1 Team | 28 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Red Bull Racing | 28 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Alpine | 20 |
| 18 | Oliver Bearman | GBR | Haas F1 Team | 20 |
| 19 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Kick Sauber | 18 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | Alpine | 0 |
| 21 | Jack Doohan | AUS | Alpine | 0 |
F1 2025 Constructor’s Championship Leaderboard
| Pos. | Team | Pts. |
| 1 | McLaren | 678 |
| 2 | Mercedes | 341 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 334 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing | 331 |
| 5 | Williams | 111 |
| 6 | Racing Bulls | 72 |
| 7 | Aston Martin | 69 |
| 8 | Kick Sauber | 59 |
| 9 | Haas F1 Team | 48 |
| 10 | Alpine | 20 |
F1 2025 Race Winners
- Australian Grand Prix – Lando Norris (McLaren) – 16 Mar 2025
- Chinese Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 23 Mar 2025
- Japanese Grand Prix – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 06 Apr 2025
- Bahrain Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 13 Apr 2025
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 20 Apr 2025
- Miami Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 04 May 2025
- Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 18 May 2025
- Monaco Grand Prix – Lando Norris (McLaren) – 25 May 2025
- Spanish Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 01 Jun 2025
- Canadian Grand Prix – George Russell (Mercedes) – 15 Jun 2025
- Austrian Grand Prix – Lando Norris (McLaren) – 29 Jun 2025
- British Grand Prix – Lando Norris (McLaren) – 06 Jul 2025
- Belgian Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 27 Jul 2025
- Hungarian Grand Prix – Lando Norris (McLaren) – 03 Aug 2025
- Dutch Grand Prix – Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 31 Aug 2025
- Italian Grand Prix – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 07 Sep 2025
- Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 21 Sep 2025
- Singapore Grand Prix – George Russell (Mercedes) – 05 Oct 2025
- United States Grand Prix – Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 19 Oct 2025