Three races Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri must now win to deny Max Verstappen the 2025 F1 title

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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen trails McLaren rival Oscar Piastri by 69 points in the 2025 standings, but the reigning champion can still realise the greatest F1 title comeback.

History potentially awaited Verstappen heading into the 2025 F1 season, as the Red Bull star can match Michael Schumacher as the only person to ever win the F1 drivers’ championship in five successive seasons. But the 27-year-old has never led the standings so far this term.

McLaren star Lando Norris ended Verstappen’s 1,029-day reign atop the standings with his victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Piastri swiftly dethroned his papaya pal after 35 days, and he has led the standings since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in round five.

Piastri even held a 104-point lead over Verstappen in third following the Dutch Grand Prix in round 15 of this year’s 24. But Verstappen winning the Italian Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix have brought him back into the mix, thanks also to Piastri’s first-lap crash in Baku.

Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri must now win in Singapore, America and Abu Dhabi to deny Max Verstappen the 2025 F1 title

Now, even after Helmut Marko claimed Verstappen had “no chance” to win the 2025 F1 title despite his win at Monza, opinions are beginning to change. Verstappen denying Piastri and Norris would be the biggest F1 title comeback in history based on the current points system.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

There are still a maximum of 199 points available to score over the final seven rounds of the 2025 season. Along with the 175 points from the final seven Grands Prix, 24 will be available from the final F1 Sprint events of 2025 at the United States GP, Sao Paulo GP and Qatar GP.

Jacques Villeneuve believes Verstappen can still win the 2025 F1 title following his victory in Baku, which marked the 27-year-old’s fourth of the year from his sixth pole position to date. The 1997 champion’s only concern for Verstappen is how Red Bull will perform in Singapore.

F1 visits Marina Bay next time out for the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix on October 3-5, and it will likely be crucial for Piastri or Norris to win under the lights if either McLaren driver is to deny Verstappen the title now. The papaya pals cannot afford not to return to winning ways.

Piastri and Norris will also need to seek glory in the United States Grand Prix on October 19 and the 2025 season-finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 7. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix on November 9 and the Qatar Grand Prix on November 30 could be more even battlefields.

Max Verstappen will fancy his chances to win the Mexico City and Las Vegas Grands Prix

Verstappen only needs to outscore Piastri by 9.8 points per round in the final seven rounds to win the 2025 title and join Schumacher in the record books. The Red Bull driver also has the advantage of being his team’s only contender, while Piastri and Norris go head-to-head.

READ MORE: The best moments of Max Verstappen’s career in Formula 1

Given the improvements that Red Bull made with their floor upgrade at Monza coupled with the inherent strengths of the RB21 on low-downforce tracks, Verstappen will likely feel more confident about his hopes of winning the Mexico City Grand Prix and Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is also Verstappen’s best circuit, having registered five Grand Prix wins in Mexico to date – more than any other race on the 2025 F1 calendar. So, Piastri and Norris must look to the Singapore, US and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix to win the title.

McLaren’s MCL39 should suit the streets of Marina Bay more than Red Bull’s RB21 will, and Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position this May. The MCL39’s advantages in medium- and high-speed corners could also pay off when F1 goes to COTA and Yas Marina.

If Norris or Piastri cannot win the Singapore GP, the United States GP and the Abu Dhabi GP, the McLaren drivers might then have to hope Mercedes or Ferrari can disrupt Verstappen’s rising momentum. But Mercedes have only won in Canada in 2025, and Ferrari are winless.