5 of the closest F1 title battles at the halfway stage – and how they panned out

The 2025 World Championship is very much all to play for as we arrive at the halfway point of the campaign, with Lando Norris’ victory at the British Grand Prix bringing the gap to leader Oscar Piastri down to just eight points. This is not the first time that we have witnessed such a duel at the midway stage – but how did those close title battles of the past play out? F1.com has been taking a look back…

1977 – Jody Scheckter vs Niki Lauda

Jody Scheckter had four wins under his belt from a three-year spell with Tyrrell when he joined the newly-formed Wolf team in 1977. Things quickly got off to a strong start, with Scheckter winning the squad’s first-ever race at the season-opening Argentine Grand Prix.

Three more podiums and another victory followed during the first half of the campaign, meaning that Scheckter led Ferrari’s Niki Lauda – competing in his first full season since his fiery accident at the 1976 German Grand Prix – by just one point in the championship standings after Round 8 of 17.

However, the South African only won one more race in the second portion of the season and, though there were still several points finishes, Lauda fared better, so much so that the Austrian wrapped up the title with two races to spare.

Lauda opted to skip those two Grands Prix and walk away from Ferrari. Scheckter, meanwhile, ended the campaign 17 points adrift of Lauda but would go on to become a World Champion with the Scuderia himself in 1979.

2016 – Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

After Mercedes aced the introduction of turbo-hybrid regulations in 2014, the championship became a primarily intra-team battle between the squad’s drivers in the years that followed. Lewis Hamilton had beaten Nico Rosberg in both 2014 and 2015 – but Rosberg appeared determined to change that when 2016 kicked off.

The German driver embarked on a winning streak as the campaign got underway, racking up four consecutive victories across the opening races. However, following his infamous collision with Hamilton at Round 5 in Spain, the latter then also took a number of wins, meaning that Hamilton was just one point behind his team mate after Round 10 of 21.

Hamilton’s prospects of claiming his fourth World Championship took a hit at Race 16 in Malaysia, where an engine failure forced him to retire and lose a significant amount of points.

And while he went on to win four races back-to-back at the end of the campaign, it was not enough to overturn his deficit to Rosberg, who clinched the title by five points. Rosberg subsequently announced his retirement, while Hamilton would go on to pick up four consecutive championships between 2017 and 2020.

1983 – Alain Prost vs Nelson Piquet

In his fourth F1 campaign – and third for Renault – Alain Prost looked well and truly in the mix for the title in 1983. By Race 7 of 15, the Frenchman was the only multiple winner of the season after taking victories in France and Belgium.

This put him in the lead of the championship – but just one point ahead of 1981 World Champion Nelson Piquet, who had been victorious in front of his home fans at the season-opening Brazilian Grand Prix.

Prost remained on course for his debut title entering into the final round of the season in South Africa, having remained two points clear of Piquet. After starting from P5 on the grid, the French driver worked his way up to P3 during the race.

However, Prost’s Renault suffered a turbo failure on Lap 35 of 77, putting him out of the running. A P3 result for Piquet, meanwhile, was enough to secure the Brazilian the second of his three World Championships, ending the season two points clear of Prost.

1956 – Stirling Moss vs Peter Collins

By the halfway mark of the 1956 season, Ferrari’s Peter Collins and Maserati driver Stirling Moss were tied on 11 points apiece at the top of the standings, with Moss’ team mate Jean Behra and the other Scuderia car of Juan Manuel Fangio just behind in third and fourth respectively.

The picture would look very different ahead of the eighth and final round of the championship, however, with Moss no longer in contention while Fangio led by eight points from Collins and Behra.

During the title-deciding Italian Grand Prix, Fangio’s chances of winning a third consecutive World Championship appeared to be over when he was forced to retire with steering issues – meaning that Collins had the opportunity to seal a debut title.

But an extraordinary gesture from Collins would change that. With this being an era in which drivers were permitted to hand their cars over to their team mates, the Briton gave his challenger to Fangio to complete the race, allowing the Argentinian to finish second and claim the title in the process.

2008 – Lewis Hamilton vs Felipe Massa vs Kimi Raikkonen

In 2007, Lewis Hamilton missed out on becoming a World Champion in his rookie season by just one point to Kimi Raikkonen. The pair again found themselves battling for the title in the campaign that followed and were tied on 48 points – along with Felipe Massa – after Round 9 of 18.

During the second half of the year, Raikkonen’s challenge fell away after a series of DNFs for the Ferrari driver. But his team mate Massa remained in the fight against the McLaren of Hamilton, meaning that the finale in Brazil would decide the victor.

Hamilton was seven points ahead of Massa prior to the race, with Massa able to take the title if Hamilton finished in sixth place or lower. A dramatic Grand Prix then unfolded in which Massa claimed victory and, for a few seconds at least, looked to have won the championship.

But Hamilton – who had been running in P6 – famously overtook Toyota’s Timo Glock on the last lap, moving him up into P5 and earning him his debut World Championship by a sole point from Massa.