IN NUMBERS: Norris, Verstappen and Piastri’s seasons compared as they face Abu Dhabi title decider

After a season filled with various twists and turns, the three-way battle for the 2025 Drivers’ Championship will finally be decided at this weekend’s finale in Abu Dhabi.

Lando Norris remains in the lead of the standings, but McLaren’s decision to keep the Briton and his team mate Oscar Piastri out on track during an early Safety Car phase in the Qatar Grand Prix – making them the only cars to do so – ultimately backfired for both, allowing Max Verstappen to take victory and in the process overtake Piastri for P2 in the championship.

The gap between Norris and Verstappen now stands at only 12 points entering into the final race of this 24-round calendar, with Piastri also only 16 points adrift of the leader – but who will leave the Yas Marina Circuit with the highest tally and thus the title?

Ahead of a decisive weekend ahead, we’ve been taking a look at how each of the championship contenders’ seasons compare in terms of those all-important numbers…

Wins

Norris – 7
Verstappen – 7
Piastri – 7

Incredibly, all three drivers have achieved the same number of Grand Prix victories during the campaign, with Norris, Verstappen and Piastri each standing on the top step of the podium on seven occasions. Mercedes’ George Russell is the only other driver to triumph, having done so on two occasions.

The spread of those wins for the title contenders, however, looks somewhat different. After kicking off the campaign with P1 in the Australian Grand Prix, Norris’ next victory did not arrive until Round 8 in Monaco, before the Briton got into his stride as the season progressed by sealing a further five victories.

Piastri, meanwhile, collected the majority of his successes earlier in the year, and he remains the only driver to score a hat-trick (achieved across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami). His most recent first place in a Grand Prix came at Round 15 in the Netherlands.

Verstappen is perhaps the most fascinating example here, however. The Dutchman snatched two wins in the first half of the campaign (at Suzuka and Imola respectively), but a dip in performance for the team resulted in him slipping backwards in the fight at the front.

But a resurgent second half of the season saw the four-time World Champion embark on a stunning run, claiming five wins since his triumph at Round 16 in Italy. Now just one more all-important victory is up for grabs – but who will seal what could be a title-deciding win?

Pole positions

Norris – 7
Verstappen – 7
Piastri – 6

Once again, the championship hopefuls are practically on equal terms here, with Norris and Verstappen each claiming seven pole positions in 2025 while Piastri is only one down with a total of six. The other drivers to start from the front slot of the grid have been Russell (twice) and Charles Leclerc (once).

In terms of the success rate from these poles, Norris has converted five into a victory, while Verstappen and Piastri have each done so on four occasions.

As is the case with wins, most of Piastri’s pole positions were achieved in the first half of the campaign – with the exception of Qatar. For Norris and Verstappen, the P1 slots have been more evenly spread through the season.

Podiums

Norris – 17
Verstappen – 14
Piastri – 15

Championship leader Norris has the most rostrums under his belt, having taken to the podium 17 times. Two of the occasions where he did not finish within the top three were due to retirements, while his P2 in Las Vegas was nullified when both McLaren cars were disqualified for a technical infringement.

Piastri has so far scored a total of 15 podiums through the season. Across the first 16 rounds, the Australian notably crossed the line with a top-three result at 14 of these races. However, a trickier run recently saw him finish off the rostrum at six weekends in a row before making his return with his second place in Qatar.

Verstappen’s tally is only one behind, the Red Bull driver having achieved 14 trips to the podium in 2025 – half of which have been victories. Since the campaign resumed in Zandvoort following its summer break, Verstappen has not finished outside of the top-three, with his current run standing at nine rostrums in a row.

Sprint wins

Norris – 2
Verstappen – 2
Piastri – 1

When it comes to the six Sprint events held in 2025, Norris, Verstappen and Piastri are responsible for all but one triumph – the exception being Lewis Hamilton’s win for Ferrari at the season’s first 100km dash in China.

Norris triumphed in Miami and Sao Paulo, while Verstappen took the spoils at Spa-Francorchamps and the Circuit of The Americas – the latter proving a nightmare outing for McLaren, with both cars eliminated in a Lap 1 melee.

Piastri, meanwhile, had to wait until Qatar for his Sprint success, the Australian converting pole into a win as he previously did in the same event back in 2023.

Points deficits

As these numbers have alluded to, the Drivers’ Championship standings have changed quite dramatically throughout the season. Norris initially held the lead until Round 5 in Saudi Arabia, where Piastri took over; at this early stage of the season, the Australian led by 10 points from Norris and 12 from Verstappen.

Norris’ retirement in Canada – after colliding with Piastri – saw the gap between the team mates open up to 22 points, with Verstappen 43 points adrift of Piastri. And after Round 15 in Zandvoort – in which Norris retired due to a mechanical issue and Piastri scored his most recent Grand Prix win to date – the latter was 34 points ahead of Norris and a whopping 104 points clear of Verstappen.

But a tough run for Piastri – coupled with an impressive resurgence for Verstappen – saw the margins close. Victory for Norris at Round 20 in Mexico saw the British racer retake the championship lead from Piastri, with Verstappen then only 36 points behind the leader.

A double disqualification for McLaren in Las Vegas then put Verstappen on equal points with Piastri, meaning both were 24 points away from Norris – and the papaya squad’s backfired strategy in Qatar resulted in Verstappen leapfrogging Piastri to now sit just 12 points adrift of Norris. Piastri, meanwhile, remains in contention 16 points behind his team mate.

The points deficits might have ebbed and flowed throughout the campaign, but the numbers that matter the most are those that will play out when the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi…