F1
Assessing the latest state of play in Formula 1’s world championship fight after Lando Norris’ second successive perfect race weekend; watch every session of the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23 live on Sky Sports F1
Monday 10 November 2025 13:01, UK
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Two poles, two wins. Lando Norris produced a perfect Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint weekend at a big point in the season to take control of the fight to win this year’s Formula 1 world title.
But how strong a position is the McLaren driver actually now in as he chases his maiden crown?
With just the season-closing triple header of events in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to come before the 2025 season concludes on December 7, we take a look at how the situation looks now in the fight for the sport’s biggest prize.
Norris now leads team-mate Oscar Piastri by 24 points and Max Verstappen by 49 points at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with three race weekends to go.
There are a maximum of 83 points available to a driver in the three Grands Prix and one Sprint that remain.
A driver collects 25 points for winning a Grand Prix and eight for winning a Saturday Sprint.
“He is almost one race victory ahead of Piastri and almost two ahead of Max Verstappen,” underlined Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle at the end of the Sao Paulo GP.
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“That’s a handy advantage to have at this stage of the season.”
Indeed, the results of Interlagos mean Norris doesn’t necessarily have to win another race this season to become champion for the first time.
While clearly easier to write than achieve, second-place finishes for Norris in all three remaining Grands Prix, plus the Qatar Sprint, would be sufficient for him to take the crown in Abu Dhabi.
Were Norris to keep finishing second and Piastri keep finishing first, the Briton would take the crown by two points.
So, given that position, does he now have one hand on the crown?
“I think so, just because of the form he’s showing,” said Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok.
“It’s one thing about the points gap but the form he’s shown, the way he’s working with his team, his nuclear team, has been so strong, the last four race weekends in particular.”
The earliest the world title can be won is now the Qatar Grand Prix on the of November 28-30, the season’s penultimate round.
The Lusail circuit stages the season’s final Sprint event a week before the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
There will be no title world coronation at the next race in Las Vegas on November 23.
Even if Norris won and Piastri retired on The Strip Circuit, the Briton’s lead would be 49 points with 58 still to play for heading to Qatar.
Qatar though could be the scene of a title decider for the second time in three years.
For a driver to be champion there, they would have to be sure of finishing the weekend at least 26 points ahead of second place in the standings. For Norris, that means stretching his current lead of 24 points by just two further points over the course of the next two events.
Although a 24-point lead, as Brundle says, is certainly useful with so few rounds left, it still does not represent an absolutely comfortable advantage just yet for Norris, as the Briton himself emphasised after the race.
That’s because, with 25 points on offer or a win in a Grand Prix, it does not take much to go wrong for a driver in one weekend for the situation to turn on its head.
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Norris already experienced that back at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August when a late car-related retirement while running second to Piastri meant he lost a full 25 points to his team-mate.
Were such a scenario to happen in Vegas, for instance, Piastri would suddenly be back in the lead heading to Qatar by one point and have his own chance, albeit very outside one, of becoming champion himself there. Verstappen would also likely be right back in the mix too.
So on his measured mindset to the rest of the season despite his points gap, Norris said: “Just imagine you’ve still got 20 races left and you’ve got to keep pushing.
“Just keep my head down, keep focused, keep trying to do what I’m doing. It’s not going to last forever, I’m not going to be able to be on top in every session – that’s the goal but also being realistic and accepting I’ve had two incredible weekends I have driven very well, the car’s been very strong. But it can easily change.”
Ever the realist, Verstappen wrote off his already-outside chances of claiming a fifth consecutive world title when he qualified 16th at Interlagos on Saturday.
A superlative comeback drive a day later from what became a pit-lane start to third place arguably represented the performance of the season, although the cold reality of the result in title terms was that he still dropped 10 further points adrift in the standings behind race winner Norris.
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Verstappen does still remain mathematically in the hunt heading to Las Vegas but, at 49 points back, the permutations are more precarious. The Red Bull driver would officially drop out of the running before Qatar if Norris outscores him by nine points or more in the USA.
Norris, though, is certainly not counting the Dutchman out yet.
“I’m sure Max’s going to be a threat in terms of races, and you never know with the championship. So, it’s pointless trying to guess and come up with these things.
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“With how quick he was, he would have won if he started higher up. But that’s racing. Not everyone puts it together, and it’s easy to make mistakes in the world that we live in.
“Max will be a threat because he always is. He’s always there, he’s always fighting, and I’m sure he’ll fight to the end. I look forward to it.”
Norris currently leads the standings on 390 points and so would get to 473 if he took maximum points to the end of the campaign.
Piastri’s theoretical maximum is 449 points, while Verstappen’s is 424.
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
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