Lando Norris sits 12-points ahead of Max Verstappen in the championship, and 16-points ahead of Oscar Piastri, as the trio enter the final race in the season.

Norris enters the final race in Abu Dhabi, looking for a podium finish on Sunday. If the Briton is able to secure a podium finish, he will also seal the championship, no matter where Verstappen or Piastri finish. However, Norris is seemingly under the most pressure to not lose his advantage in the championship.

However, the last two races have seen Verstappen close by an enormous amount of points, going from 49-points behind Norris going into the Las Vegas Grand Prix, to being just 12-points behind, two races later going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Verstappen has maintained his composure, however, with the Dutchman saying: "I’ve already achieved everything that I wanted to achieve in F1, and everything is just a bonus. And I just keep doing it because I love it and I enjoy it. And that’s also how I go into this weekend—have a good time out there, try to maximise the result."

Verstappen has not led the 2025 F1 drivers' championship at any stage this season, and will be looking to clinch the title at the final race of the year, similar to Sebastian Vettel in the 2010 season, where the German won the championship despite having a 15-point deficit going into the final race.

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Photo: Race Pictures

With Norris leading the standings coming into the final race, many have picked the McLaren driver as the favourite to win the championship, especially considering he won this race, just one year ago. With the pressure of a first world championship, Norris currently stands to lose the most, should the Briton lose out to Verstappen or Piastri in the championship.

Speaking about being the driver with the most to lose, Norris stated: "I’ll do my best to stay there till the end of the year, a few more days. At the same time, if it doesn’t go my way, then I try again next year. It’ll hurt probably for a little while, but then, yeah, that’s life. I’ll crack on and try and do better next season. I also feel like I have the mentality of 'I have nothing to lose,' because it’s just a race for a championship."

Should Norris win the championship, he will be the first McLaren drivers' champion since Lewis Hamilton back in 2008. Norris reclaimed his lead in the championship following a dominant drive at the Mexican Grand Prix, and has held the lead since.

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