Every twist and turn from a dramatic 2025 battle for the Drivers’ Championship

The battle for the 2025 Drivers’ Championship was certainly one to remember, featuring several twists and turns as the duel between Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen played out right down to the wire before Norris ultimately took the crown. F1.com takes a look back at the milestone moments in this year’s epic fight for the title…

Round 1, Australia – Norris takes the lead with a chaotic win

Changing weather conditions ensured that the Australian Grand Prix kicked off the season in dramatic style. After lining up in pole position, Norris held the lead during the early stages from Piastri and Verstappen.

But the arrival of heavier rain sent both McLarens onto the grass – and while Norris managed to carry on to the pits, Piastri spun off at the penultimate corner, with all of this allowing Verstappen to move up into P1.

After Verstappen eventually pitted, Norris retook the lead. The Briton faced pressure from the Red Bull man in the latter stages following a Safety Car phase, but did enough to hold his rival off and take victory, sealing an early championship lead in the process. Piastri, meanwhile, managed to recover to a final result of P9.

Round 2, China – Piastri bounces back

Piastri’s off at his home race had left him on the back foot in the early stages of the championship fight. Just one week later in China, however, the Australian bounced back in style, putting himself in prime position by grabbing his first-ever Grand Prix pole position.

After fending off an initial challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell to hold the lead, Piastri put in a commanding performance as he stormed to his third career victory.

Norris followed in second, albeit nearly 10 seconds adrift of his team mate amid a brake issue on his car during the closing stages.

Round 3, Japan – Verstappen keeps himself in contention

Verstappen had not looked to have quite the same pace as the McLaren duo in the opening two rounds. This also seemed to be the case during Q1 and Q2 of Qualifying at Round 3 in Japan – until the Dutchman pulled out a stunning lap in Q3 to clinch pole position.

On a track where he had previously been victorious at the last three races, Verstappen added a fourth consecutive win to that tally, surviving a slow pit stop en route that saw him briefly go wheel-to-wheel with Norris at the pit exit.

Behind Verstappen, Piastri tried to attack Norris for second place during the closing stages, but it was the Briton who remained ahead. The result meant that Norris now led the standings by just one point from Verstappen, with Piastri 12 points behind in third.

Round 4, Bahrain – Another win for Piastri

With a different name on the top step of the podium at each of the opening three rounds, Piastri became the first multiple race winner of 2025 by sealing his second victory of the campaign at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old again converted pole into a win, crossing the line with a 15-second advantage over Russell in second. Norris, meanwhile, collected a five-second penalty for being out of position in his grid box – having started back in sixth – but climbed up to a final result of third.

A difficult day for Verstappen saw the reigning World Champion finish in sixth, resulting in Piastri overtaking him for P2 in the drivers’ standings to now sit just three points away from Norris.

Round 5, Saudi Arabia – Piastri snatches the championship lead

Qualifying at Round 5 of the campaign in Saudi Arabia proved an eventful affair. The McLaren duo appeared the favourites for pole, yet Norris’ session came to an early end in Q3 when the British driver hit the wall at the exit of Turn 5, leaving him down in P10 for the race.

Piastri, meanwhile, was beaten to the fastest time by Verstappen. There was early drama between the pair as they went side-by-side when Sunday’s Grand Prix got underway, with Verstappen subsequently being handed a five-second time penalty for cutting the apex into the first corner.

While Norris managed to work his way up to fourth, Piastri scored a third consecutive win – a result that saw him become the new Drivers’ Championship leader by 10 points from his team mate.

Round 8, Monaco – Norris returns to the top step

Victories followed for Piastri and Verstappen in Miami and Imola respectively. But when the F1 paddock arrived in Monaco for Round 8, Norris secured an all-important pole position ahead of home favourite Charles Leclerc and the other McLaren of Piastri.

Come Sunday, Norris kept his composure across Virtual Safety Car phases and a mandated two-pit stop rule to win the iconic race for the first time in his career, marking a special moment for the Briton.

Piastri’s third place kept him three points clear of Norris in the standings, while Verstappen – who finished the event in fourth – was now 25 points off Piastri in P3.

Round 10, Canada – Disaster for McLaren as Norris and Piastri collide

Entering into the 10th round of the campaign, the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris had acknowledged that it was a matter of “when” not “if” in terms of whether he and Piastri would come to blows on track at some point during their scrap for the title.

That prediction quickly came true in Montreal. While Russell was leading up ahead – followed by Verstappen and the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli – Piastri had Norris on his tail in the fight for P4.

Just a few laps from the finish, the pair collided on the main straight in an incident that Norris took the blame for. The 26-year-old’s resulting retirement from the race meant that Piastri – who clung on to take fourth – was now 22 points ahead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Round 11, Austria – Norris beats Piastri in thrilling battle

Following his DNF in Montreal, Norris was in resurgent form at the next race in Austria. The Briton secured pole position at the Red Bull Ring, beating closest challenger Leclerc by over half a second, while Piastri settled for third and Verstappen wound up in seventh after being hindered by a late yellow flag.

Sunday’s Grand Prix was quickly over for Verstappen, who was immediately out on Lap 1 after Antonelli’s Mercedes ran into the Red Bull. What then ensued was an enthralling race-long duel between the McLaren duo, with Piastri making several attempts to overtake Norris.

There were several close calls along the way, but Norris managed to keep his team mate at bay to claim his third win of the season. This put the gap between the pair in the championship at 15 points, while Verstappen’s retirement meant that he was now 61 points behind.

Round 12, Great Britain – A home win for Norris

Polesitter Verstappen initially led when F1 went racing at Silverstone for Round 12, before Piastri took the lead as the rain started to fall. Both found themselves in trouble soon afterwards, however; Piastri received a 10-second time penalty for slowing too much ahead of a Safety Car restart, while Verstappen dropped backwards due to a spin.

When Piastri served his penalty at his pit stop – with changing conditions seeing the field switch to slick tyres – Norris became the new race leader, and from there the British driver maintained enough of an advantage to take his first home victory.

As well as being another memorable moment for Norris, the triumph helped him to close in on Piastri in the standings, with the gap now at eight points. The deficit for Verstappen, meanwhile, had grown to 69 points.

Round 14, Hungary – Norris resists pressure from Piastri

Leclerc was the surprise polesitter at the end of Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the Ferrari driver initially led from Piastri during the opening stages of the race.

The picture started to evolve as different strategies played out during the 70-lap encounter, leading to Norris – on a one-stop plan – getting ahead of the two-stopping Leclerc and Piastri.

A gripping finale saw Piastri chase down Norris for the lead. It was the latter who took victory, however, closing the championship margin back down to nine points in the process. The race was a particularly tough one for Red Bull, meanwhile, with Verstappen crossing the line down in ninth.

Round 15, Netherlands – A DNF for Norris as Piastri takes victory

In terms of milestone moments in the World Championship duel, it appeared at the time that one of the most significant had occurred during the Dutch Grand Prix when F1 returned from its summer break.

Norris had remained on the tail of Piastri – who had started from pole – through the race, but everything changed when smoke began to emerge from the Briton’s car with a few laps remaining, forcing him to pull off track and retire from the race.

With Piastri taking victory and Norris scoring no points, the Australian was now ahead by 34 points – and the situation looked even worse for Verstappen, who now had a sizeable deficit of 104 points to the leader.

Round 16, Italy – Verstappen returns to winning ways

While Verstappen led up ahead from pole position, there were some intra-team dramas for McLaren on race day at Monza. Norris had been running in second, but a slow pit stop resulted in the Briton dropping behind Piastri.

The team made the decision to reinstate the positions, a call that Piastri questioned before following the instruction. Though they were free to race for the remainder of the Grand Prix, Norris stayed ahead in P2.

Verstappen’s win, meanwhile, had helped him to close in slightly on his rivals in the standings – but there was still a vast amount of ground to make up across the next eight rounds…

Round 17, Azerbaijan – A nightmare weekend for Piastri

Few will forget Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, an incident-filled session that featured a record six red flags. The final of these was caused by Piastri, who hit the barriers during Q3.

Starting from P9 on the grid as a result, Piastri’s fortunes did not improve on Sunday. The Australian initially jumped the lights and engaged anti-stall – dropping him to the back of the pack – before crashing at Turn 5, recording his first retirement of the season in the process.

On a tricky day for Norris, the #4 driver’s seventh place saw him cut Piastri’s lead to 25 points, while Verstappen’s promising run continued as the Red Bull driver scored a second win in a row.

Round 18, Singapore – McLaren become Teams’ Champions

As polesitter Russell held P1 when the Singapore Grand Prix got underway, Norris clipped the rear of Verstappen’s car and banged wheels with Piastri in a tense scrap behind, leading Piastri to voice his unhappiness about the incident over the team radio.

Later in the race, Norris tried to chase down Verstappen for P2 before having to settle for third. With Piastri following in fourth, the result meant that McLaren had secured the Teams’ Championship for a second consecutive year.

In the Drivers’ Championship, Norris now sat 22 points behind Piastri, with Verstappen having reduced his own deficit to 63 points.

Round 19, United States – Verstappen’s comeback continues

Disaster struck for McLaren moments into the Sprint at the Circuit of The Americas, with both Norris and Piastri taken out on the opening lap after being caught up in a Turn 1 melee.

Verstappen went on to win the 100km dash, and the Dutchman continued the rest of the weekend in that form, grabbing pole position before surging to another Grand Prix win, his third in four races. Norris and Piastri, meanwhile, claimed second and fifth respectively.

The title fight had taken another twist, with Piastri’s lead down to 14 points over Norris and 40 from Verstappen.

Round 20, Mexico City – Norris retakes championship lead

Just a few days on from Austin, things could not have gone much better for Norris during Round 20 in Mexico City.

After beating Leclerc to pole position by 0.262s – while Piastri was nearly eight-tenths back in P8 – Norris converted that position into a lights-to-flag victory come Sunday, a result that reinstated him as the Drivers’ Championship leader by just one point from his team mate.

Verstappen took the final spot on the podium alongside Norris and Leclerc, putting the Dutchman 36 points behind Norris in the standings.

Round 21, Sao Paulo – A dream weekend for Norris

Norris followed up that impressive Mexico performance with another strong outing in Sao Paulo, starting with a win in the penultimate Sprint of the year – an event in which Piastri crashed out amid changeable conditions.

Pole position followed for Norris later on Saturday during a fascinating Qualifying session that saw Verstappen shockingly exit in Q1, leaving him down in 17th. Red Bull subsequently opted to start the four-time World Champion from the pit lane.

Another triumph for Norris boosted the Briton’s advantage in the championship to 24 points over Piastri, while a stunning drive from Verstappen – in which he climbed up to P3 – reduced the potential damage in the standings.

Round 22, Las Vegas – Double disqualification for McLaren

As the season reached its final triple header sequence, it remained all to play for in the title fight. Leader Norris outpaced Verstappen to seize pole position in Las Vegas, but a bold defensive move from the former into Turn 1 failed to pay off, allowing Verstappen through into the lead.

The Red Bull man resisted an early challenge from Russell and stormed to his sixth win of the campaign, with Norris and Piastri initially taking second and fourth respectively. However, it was later announced that the McLaren drivers had been disqualified due to the rearmost skid wear on both cars being found to be below the minimum thickness required in the technical regulations.

This outcome had a significant effect on the Drivers’ Championship; Verstappen had now drawn equal with Piastri in second place, with both sitting 24 points behind Norris.

Round 23, Qatar – Verstappen moves even closer

Norris arrived into the penultimate event of the season in Qatar with a chance to wrap up the championship – but it was Piastri who returned to winning ways in the Sprint, a result he followed up by taking pole later on Saturday in Qualifying.

McLaren’s hopes of claiming victory on Sunday looked to have been dashed, however, when they opted for an alternative strategy to the majority of the field. While most of the grid pitted for the first of a mandatory two-stop strategy when the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 7, the papaya cars stayed out on track.

As such, they dropped backwards when they eventually made their stops, and Piastri and Norris finished the race in second and fourth. Verstappen had added another victory to his tally – and this meant that the Dutch driver would enter the finale just 12 points behind Norris, with Piastri now 16 adrift of his team mate.

Round 24, Abu Dhabi – The title is decided

To become World Champion, Norris needed to finish the season finale in Abu Dhabi on the podium. However, that task was not necessarily made easy for the Briton as the action got underway at the Yas Marina Circuit, with polesitter Verstappen leading from the off while Piastri overtook Norris for P2.

There was then significant pressure on the championship leader as a racy Leclerc tried to attack for P3, while there was also a tense wheel-to-wheel moment later on with the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.

Despite this, Norris maintained composure and did enough to secure that vital third place on track behind Verstappen and Piastri – a result that gave Norris his maiden title by just two points from Verstappen, bringing a thrilling championship duel to a close.