What do Norris, Piastri & Verstappen need to win F1 title?

After a thrilling race in Qatar on Sunday night the fight to be crowned F1 world champion will go to the final race in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

Britain's Lando Norris is leading the standings with 408 points as he looks to win his first world title.

Four-time champion Max Verstappen is now 12 points behind on 396 thanks to his win in Qatar, while Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri is only four more points behind on 392.

With 25 points available for first place in Abu Dhabi the title is up for grabs for all three.

So what does each driver need to do to claim the top prize?

Lando Norris

Put simply, as the leading driver in the standings, if Norris finishes first, second or third in Abu Dhabi he will win the world championship - it doesn't matter where his rivals finish.

Also if he doesn't finish on the podium but does finish ahead of both Verstappen and Piastri then he wins the title.

Any other scenario for Norris to win the championship requires him to finish within 12 points of Verstappen in Abu Dhabi and within 16 points of Piastri.

However if the two leading drivers are level on points after the final race then countback comes into play. In that case the driver with the most race wins this season - all three are currently level on seven - will be crowned champion. If that remains level then it would go to second place finishes - which Norris leads on and cannot be caught.

Max Verstappen

Verstappen's clearest route to the title is for him to win in Abu Dhabi and Norris to finish fourth or worse.

If he does not win the race he needs to out-score Norris by at least 13 points while also ensuring Piastri does not out-score him by five points or more.

Oscar Piastri

If Piastri wins in Abu Dhabi and Norris finishes sixth or worse then Piastri wins the title.

However if Piastri finishes second, Norris would need to finish in 10th place or worse and Verstappen fourth or worse for him to win the title.

Any other scenario for Piastri to win the title requires him to finish 17 points ahead of Norris and five points ahead of Verstappen.

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