F1 title race: Key questions as Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen fight continues at Sao Paulo GP

05.11.2025, 08:32 skysports.com

Formula 1's three-way title race resumes this weekend in Brazil with a different McLaren driver at the top of the standings for the first time in over six months.

And with Red Bull's Max Verstappen still in the hunt against the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as the 2025 season enters its decisive final five weeks, we look at some of the latest key questions in the championship race as the tension ramps up...

Twenty race weekends down, four still to go, and the gap at the very top of the Drivers' Championship is as tight and close as it has been all season.

Norris' runaway win in Mexico saw him replace Piastri at the head of the standings for the first time since April but the difference between the McLaren team-mates at the summit remains absolutely slender at just ONE POINT.

The spectre of a Verstappen title comeback continues to loom over the McLaren duo too.

From 104 points behind following the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Red Bull's reigning four-time champion has got his deficit down to 36 points thanks to gains in each of the last five race weekends. That is the narrowest gap Verstappen has had to the lead since after the Monaco GP in May.

The bookmakers' pre-season championship favourite has been restored as the favourite heading to Brazil.

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Norris' reclaimed status in the points standings is reflected in the latest odds, with the Briton topping the betting ahead of Piastri and Verstappen, although there remains little to choose between the three of them.

A maximum of 116 points are available to a driver over the season's final four events - grand prix weekends in Sao Paulo, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

That is a total of 100 across the four main Sunday grands prix (25 for each race win) and 16 across the season's final two sprints (eight for a sprint win), which take place in Brazil this Saturday and then Qatar on November 29.

Arguably the biggest question around the championship battle heading to Sao Paulo is whether Piastri can immediately respond to seeing his 189-day run at the top of the Drivers' Championship ended by a dominant Norris in Mexico City.

Piastri has gone five races without a victory - and, arguably more concerningly for the Australian, four races without even a podium - and has not finished in front of either Norris or Verstappen since winning the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31, when he opened up what appeared to be a commanding 34-point title lead.

It was his unusually-large pace deficit seen to Norris at the last two events - which in qualifying stood at 0.283s in Austin and 0.588s in Mexico - which the Australian will be looking to urgently address.

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The low-grip, slidy nature of both the Circuit of The Americas and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was cited by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella as requiring a driving style which is "not necessarily the way in which Oscar feels naturally that he is producing lap time" with the team working with him, in the words of Piastri, to add "some tools to the toolbox" to get more out of the MCL39 in such conditions.

The challenge of Sao Paulo's Interlagos circuit is different, which should aid Piastri's bid to get back to his best form, although the track's bumpiness and the high likelihood of at least some rain means drivers require plenty of confidence in their car's handling too.

Piastri can certainly take heart from his form in the dry at the start of last year's Brazil weekend, when he beat Norris to sprint pole before letting his then-title-chasing team-mate past to claim the Saturday win.

The question of whether the 15 points Verstappen gained for his fighting third place in Mexico amid a tricky few days for Red Bull turn out to be a 'good' 15 points for his outside championship bid or not will perhaps be answered as soon as this weekend.

With the RB21 certainly not as competitive in high altitude as it had been in Austin the week before, when Verstappen comfortably won, team and driver will be hoping to be back competing for victory at Interlagos a year on from his stunning wet-weather win from 17th on the grid there.

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Pre-race championship leader Piastri's struggles last time out meant Verstappen again moved closer to the standings' summit but this time his gain was a mere four points - which the Dutchman acknowledged was not enough.

"As I said before the weekend, everything needs to go perfect to win," said the four-time world champion. "And this weekend didn't go perfect. So that's your answer. I think it's going to be tough, but let's see what we can do in other tracks."

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Verstappen now must outscore both McLaren drivers by an average of nine points at each of the remaining four race weekends to become champion for the fifth time. That is one point fewer than the difference between first and third place in a grand prix, meaning he realistically needs to return to winning ways and hope Ferrari and Mercedes can get drivers between him and the McLarens.

A tough ask, indeed.

So with extra points on offer for the sprint in Sao Paulo, Verstappen knows he certainly needs "perfection" on weekends like this if he is to really have any realistic title shot over the season's final month.

Trying to predict which car or which driver the remaining tracks on the calendar are likely to favour with any particular confidence is fraught with difficulty, even for the protagonists themselves.

As Piastri said in Mexico: "For me, it's difficult to predict who's going to be strong where. I think if anything, it's more about who maximises their car each weekend rather than whose car suits different things."

But is there much to glean from past recent precedence and general car traits?

Well, Sao Paulo's undulating Interlagos circuit is certainly one where McLaren expect to go well. They were dominant in the dry last year before Verstappen spectacularly turned things on their head in a wet race that all-but sealed his fourth successive drivers' crown.

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Rain is expected to be a factor again this year, while the nature of the sprint weekend with its single practice session places an importance on early momentum in a weekend.

Las Vegas has proved a bogey track for McLaren in its two years on the calendar with the team yet to qualify or finish higher than sixth on The Strip Circuit. Although it was little better for Verstappen last year (fifth) a year on from winning the inaugural event, with Mercedes dominant amid cool evening conditions.

On McLaren's chances, Stella said: "Las Vegas, if anything, has proven to be a challenge for McLaren overall. Last year we were not competitive. We needed to learn something, if anything, during the race, just to try and make some changes to see if we could stop the graining.

"This year the tyres, they do grain much less than last year, so it could be a slightly different Vegas from this point of view. It will be interesting to see. I think for Lando and Oscar, there's no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next four races."

Sao Paulo GP: Max Verstappen, Red BullLas Vegas GP: George Russell, MercedesQatar GP: Max Verstappen, Red BullAbu Dhabi GP: Lando Norris, McLaren

If Vegas still proves one of McLaren's more challenging circuits, then Qatar and Abu Dhabi should play more to the MCL39's strengths, although Red Bull will feel reason for optimism too.

Qatar was the only dry race Verstappen won in the final five months of 2024, while Norris was the victor in Abu Dhabi last year to end a run of four consecutive Verstappen victories at the track.

With only one point in it at the top of the standings, what we know for sure is that the fight is definitely going on to at least the first leg of the triple-header that closes out the season - and almost certainly beyond.

The Las Vegas GP on November 23 is the earliest things could be theoretically decided at this point but that is unlikely in the extreme given Norris would need to take maximum points from Brazil and Vegas (58 points) with Piastri and Verstappen scoring absolutely none to give him an unassailable lead of 59 points.

The title race is likely therefore all-but guaranteed to still be on going into the season's penultimate round in Qatar - the final sprint event - on November 28-30.

A driver would then be champion if they finished the Lusail weekend at least 26 points (or 25 points on countback if guaranteed to finish the season with most race wins) clear at the top.

Anything less than that and the battle for the crown goes to the wire in Abu Dhabi on December 7, which it has not done since Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's duel was infamously settled there in 2021.

Formula 1's thrilling title race continues in Brazil with a Sprint weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime