The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, plus four-time defending champion Max Verstappen, are all in contention to take the top prize after 24 rounds of an epic season. Verstappen will start on pole with Norris alongside him on the front row, and Piastri P2 for tomorrow’s race. Who needs what from that position then?

How can Oscar Piastri win the 2025 F1 world championship? - Piastri was fuming after a McLaren strategy error cost him the race win in Qatar on Sunday night

Lando Norris ended the final Friday practice session of 2025 on top of the FP2 standings at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, more than three tenths clear of Max Verstappen – as Oscar Piastri was only 11th.

CEO Zak Brown says McLaren could use team orders to manage the Formula 1 title fight if one of its drivers has a “significantly better chance” to win in Sunday's decisive Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. McLaren's Lando Norris leads the standings by 12 points from Red Bull's Max Verstappen,

A remarkable situation exists where all three drivers - Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri - are currently tied with seven Grand Prix wins each heading into the final race. This means the count of first-place finishes alone cannot break a tie if none of the three contenders win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Though it started with misery — he went too deep into one corner in the wet conditions during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and slid onto the grass at the next turn, blowing his shot at a home podium — Piastri rebounded, entering a dominant era of his own.

Norris has a healthy advantage, but the other two each have a reasonable path to the title in the season-deciding Abu Dhabi GP.

Oscar Piastri could find himself on the outside looking in this Sunday as his McLaren teammate Lando Norris closes in on the world championship. Juan Pablo Montoya has said that if Piastri misses out on this year’s title,