Will Max Verstappen steal the F1 2025 title from McLaren?

There is just one race to go in the F1 2025 season with a three-way title fight on our hands in one of the most exciting conclusions to a championship in years.

Lando Norris heads the standings from Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in a competition that seemed a lock for one of the McLaren pair.

Could Max Verstappen complete an incredible title fightback in Abu Dhabi?

Verstappen’s fightback since the Dutch Grand Prix has been extraordinary, and left him on the precipice of a potential fifth title.

By rights, he shouldn’t be there. McLaren has had the fastest car and dominated the early part of the year.

It may have won the all-important Constructors’ Championship, but the Drivers’ title remains elusive thus far.

That’s a product of the team’s own approach to going racing.

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing’s CEO, told PlanetF1.com back in May that he was prepared to lose the championship if it meant not having to issue team orders to the detriment of the hopes of Norris or Piastri.

And now, after 23 races and six Sprints, he stands at that very crossroad.

Norris is the favourite to win the world championship on paper. He holds a 12-point margin over Verstappen and should have a car advantage in Yas Marina.

And yet, the doubt remains. Verstappen has worked miracles before. If anyone can do it, surely it’s Max, right?

At one point, he was over 100 points off the championship lead, putting into perspective the scale of his fightback.

The Dutchman has routinely delivered results that surpass expectation, his drive to the podium from the Interlagos pit lane was a case in point.

That has heaped pressure on McLaren, a team that by now should have transformed the title fight into a straight head-to-head between Norris and Piastri but for the irrepressible Dutchman.

The relentless nature of his pursuit has pushed McLaren into mistakes; it threw away victory in Qatar, opening the door for Verstappen’s fight to continue at an even where it should have been extinguished.

And now, with one race remaining and both McLaren drivers still in contention, Verstappen is not battling the might of the papaya team. He is fighting against two individuals who have the team’s undivided support – and are compromised by a dedication to a laudable ideal that could well prove its undoing.

Does that leave hand Verstappen a crucial advantage heading into the final race of the season? He needs things to go his way, but incredible it remains entirely possible for Max Verstappen steal an incredible fifth world championship from under the noses of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The question is, will he achieve the impossible, or fall agonisingly short? Have your say by casting your vote below.

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