Abu Dhabi may have seen the Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship ultimately decided in Lando Norris’ favor, but previous rounds had some dramatic moments leading up to this point. Many of the 24 rounds could have been picked as key points of the season, but I took on the challenge of picking five that set the tone or seemed to change the direction of the championship.
Australia
Pre-season had shown McLaren had an advantage over the field, but there was still great anticipation heading into the opening race as to whether another team could challenge, or which driver would come out on top. Given his late championship performance in 2024, Lando Norris was expected to take the lead and rightly did so with pole position, but Oscar Piastri put him under considerable pressure throughout to outline his own title credentials.
A late rain shower threw a spanner in the works and caused both McLarens to skate away – Norris kept his lead, Piastri got stuck on the grass – and opened the door for Max Verstappen to pile on the pressure in the closing laps.
Norris withstood the challenge for a statement win that underpinned his early status as title favourite, but Verstappen showed he would remain a threat if given half a chance, and Piastri’s stunning pass to Lewis Hamilton on the final lap earned two points.
Barcelona
McLaren began to show the extent of its lead as Red Bull struggled with the car’s performance, but an aggressive and inventive three-stop strategy allowed Verstappen to stay in the frame and not let the leading two rest. It seemed a brave but ultimately unsuccessful attempt, as Verstappen looked set for third before a late safety car, and with no usable soft or medium tires left, he was put on a set of hard tires that abandoned him to those behind him.
Charles Leclerc and George Russell came through as Verstappen’s frustration grew – both due to the strategy setback but also some moves in Turn 1 – and the Dutchman lost control and hit Russell in Turn 5, receiving a 10-second penalty. The incident cost Verstappen five places and nine points, while Piastri took his fifth victory in the first nine races.
With hindsight – and the recognition that future races could have gone differently – it is the one major result Verstappen had control over that cost him the championship, as he ultimately trailed by just two points.
For Piastri, the victory was another extremely strong performance that gave him his first victory in three races, but it was already his fifth victory of the season when he started to brand himself as the one to beat on that stage.
Verstappen’s powerful movements kept the Red Bull driver in the game, but in Barcelona he would ultimately go a little too far. Steven Tee/LAT images
Canada
Just one race after Verstappen fell out of reach of the title lead with his Barcelona moment of madness, Norris then damaged his own championship position by running into the back of Piastri.
Mercedes and Verstappen had a slight pace advantage over McLaren in Montreal, and Russell turned pole position into victory, while Kimi Antonelli took a first podium in third. Verstappen had to make do with second place as the top five were all in view in the closing stages, but Norris had overtaken Piastri in fourth as he tried to close a gap that did not exist on the run to Turn 1.
The contact took Norris out of the race and ended the Grand Prix under the safety car – forcing Piastri to increase his lead over his teammate by 12 points – but what could have been a controversial or challenging moment for McLaren was made extremely simple as Norris immediately identified the mistake, both over the team radio and as soon as he spoke publicly afterwards.
Monza
A week earlier, Piastri had pulled back a seemingly commanding lead over Norris by winning comfortably at Zandvoort, while Norris retired with an engine oil line failure. 34 points was the difference, and because Piastri’s form up to that point had been so impressive, Norris said he had to go for it for the rest of the season.
He started well with a strong performance at Monza, beating Piastri and leading him for most of the race before a slow pit stop cost him the position. McLaren somewhat controversially asked Piastri to give the place back, saying it was a team and not driver error that hurt Norris, and the Australian protested but complied with the request.
Monza marked a turning point in the battle between the McLaren drivers. albeit amid some controversy. Joe Portlock/Getty Images
While it kicked off a run of seven straight races – plus two sprints – in which Norris would finish ahead of Piastri and turn the title picture between the two McLaren drivers on its head, the fact that the pair were well adrift of Verstappen was both a major surprise and a sign of things to come as the Dutchman roared back into contention.
Vegas
Norris’ dominance in both Mexico and Brazil had given the Brit the platform to take control of the championship, and he seemed to do just that with his performance in Las Vegas. It was far from a flawless weekend, as Norris impressively took pole position, but defended himself too aggressively against Verstappen at Turn 1, running wide and losing two positions. Verstappen needed to win, and rightly did so once given the chance, but Norris looked set for a comfortable second place that would leave him on the brink of the title heading into Qatar and all but eliminate Verstappen.
Then came the slow final laps which signaled a potential problem at McLaren as both drivers were disqualified after the race due to failures of technical checks relating to board wear. However small and unintentional the foul was, it cost Norris 18 points compared to Verstappen and six against Piastri, as the potential for a three-way battle to the wire became much more realistic.
Ultimately, Norris did not let the lost points derail him as he was somewhat conservative in the next two rounds but achieved the results he needed to secure the title.
#races #define #title #battle #RACER