threeway

Max Verstappen can win a fifth straight world title but will need to overcome McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Formula One will crown its champion in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both seeking to dethrone Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and deny the Dutchman his fifth title in a row.

Norris is favourite in the three-way showdown, 12 points clear of Verstappen and needing “only” to finish on the podium at Yas Marina whoever wins on what could be a night of high drama.

The last season before the start of a new era for the sport, and the expansion to 11 teams with new rules and engines, has been one of comebacks and shocks for all three contenders, and none can be counted out.

All have seven wins each, are capable of adding to that tally and ready to deliver an edge-of-seat sunset finale that might have come straight out of Brad Pitt’s recent F1 movie blockbuster.

All have also suffered the agony of race retirements due to collisions or crashes.

McLaren’s incredible season, Verstappen’s incredible fightback

Norris, winner of the opener in Melbourne last March, was 34 points behind Piastri at the end of August but turned his fortunes around with a hot streak, while the Australian stalled.

He won in Abu Dhabi from pole last year, after losing a title battle with Verstappen.

“It’s been an incredible season. We have an incredible car. I’m proud of everyone in the team. Thank you to all of our fans. We’ve got one more race, and we’ll give it everything,” he said.

Piastri, leading from Saudi Arabia in April to Mexico in October, had looked set for Australia’s first championship since Alan Jones 45 years ago, but is now 16 points behind his teammate.

He needs to win or finish second and hope for a twist in the tale – twice this century, the driver who was third overall going into the final round has come out on top.

Verstappen, who can join Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to take five titles in a row, could be on for the most astonishing comeback of all after being 104 points behind Piastri in late August.

“We stay in the fight until the end,” grinned the Dutchman after winning in Qatar last weekend, following on from victory in Las Vegas the Saturday before that.

Abu Dhabi has been a happy hunting ground for him in the past, with four wins in a row at the anti-clockwise circuit until last year.

Another win, with Norris not on the podium, would suffice.

McLaren had both their cars disqualified in Las Vegas and threw away a win for Piastri and podium for Norris in Qatar, thanks to a bungled strategy.

Surely the runaway constructors’ champions, with the second-highest single-season points tally of all time, can’t let slip through their fingers a first title double since 1998?

Prizemoney and paddock pecking order

While the title drama plays out, others will be chasing prize money and points to improve their place in the paddock pecking order.

Mercedes and Red Bull are fighting for second place, although the former looks likely to prevail with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, given the latter team’s reliance on Verstappen.

The race will be a final outing for Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull, his seat handed to Frenchman Isack Hadjar for next season, and engine partners Honda before switching to Aston Martin.

Ferrari have one last chance to win a race in 2025 while seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton is facing his first season without even standing on the podium.

Sauber, in their last race before becoming the factory Audi team and with Nico Hulkenberg making his 250th start, are only five points behind eighth-placed Haas, who are in turn seven adrift of Aston Martin.

Renault-owned Alpine are competing for the last time with Renault engines before a switch to Mercedes power. For Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto, that means one last attempt to score his first point of the campaign.