Former driver Helmut Marko talks with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen during the first qualifying session at the Lusail International Circuit ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, in Lusail, Qatar, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

QATAR — For the first time since 2010, the Formula One (F1) Driver’s Title is going to a final race with three potential winners… but that’s next week. How did events play out in Qatar to bring about this nail-biting finish?

Not only was the race in Qatar the penultimate round of the 24-race championship for 2025, it was also the final Sprint Race weekend. Somewhat disappointingly, the Sprint Race was pretty uneventful overall as the drivers found it difficult to pass on this high-speed circuit.

Oscar Piastri drove his McLaren to pole position and a dominant race win in the Sprint Race, earning him 8 points. That helped him close in a little more on his main title rival, his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, and also helped him clear Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a few points.

Piastri continued his stellar weekend by putting his car on pole position for the feature race on Sunday. Starting in second place was title leader Norris and Verstappen started in third. The stage was set for an exciting race with the three title contenders sitting in the top three spots at the start of the race.

Pirelli, the tire manufacturer for F1, also spiced things up with a mandate specific to this track. The high tire-wear nature of the Qatar circuit led to a multitude of tire punctures in previous years, so Pirelli suggested all sets of tires for the weekend should have a 25-lap maximum. The teams all agreed and, since the race was scheduled for 57 laps, a two-stop race was now a requirement. Though the new rule limited drivers trying something a little different for strategy, safety was the driving concern.

As the lights went out and the drivers hit the gas pedals, Verstappen got a jump on Norris and slotted into second place. Piastri controlled things from the lead. From the looks of the Sprint race the day before, it seemed like drivers would have such difficulty passing other cars that they might just hold station like that for the entire race.

That actually wasn’t too far off, but there was one huge event that turned everything on its head in what would otherwise be a very procedural race. On lap 7, Nico Hulkenberg tried driving his Kick Sauber around the outside of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, but as he finished the move, Gasly moved a bit back towards Hulkenberg, touched the back tire, and spun Hulkenberg into the gravel and out of the race. His beached car meant the safety car had to come out.

While pit stops under the safety car minimize the amount of time you lose making a pit stop, the McLaren team decided pitting so early would force them into a particular strategy and not provide them flexibility later in the race, so they told both Piastri and Norris to stay out on track. The problem? Every other car still in the race pitted.

When there is split strategy between the 10 teams, it makes for an interesting race. When only one team splits from the other nine, it implies they missed something in the strategy. Both McLaren drivers sounded dubious about their prospects on the radio, but the team assured them flexibility would be well worth it.

Here’s the problem. Even though they were now first and second on the track, they were behind the safety car and driving at reduced speed, meaning Verstappen was right back on the bumper of Norris, with one of two pit stops complete and seven lap newer tires. Making a pit stop at racing speed costs a driver 26 seconds, meaning the two McLarens now needed to outpace Verstappen by nearly half a minute to maintain a first and second finish.

Sound like too much of a task? Norris sounded like he was already defeated and kept talking in hindsight. Piastri seemed up for the fight though. As his second pit stop loomed, Piastri was chomping at the bit, begging his team to bring him in for fresh tires so he could take the fight to Verstappen. When McLaren finally agreed and brought him into the pit, I was ecstatic.

Then, McLaren left everyone scratching their heads once more as they bolted hard tires, the same type Verstappen already had on, onto Piastri’s car. Why in the world did they not take a chance by putting Piastri on soft tires? I’m sure the main reason is tire degradation, which is very high at this race track, and they definitely don’t want to risk a flat tire for Piastri. I get that. But putting him out on hard tires was never going to work since he had a good seventeen seconds to make up on Verstappen.

Norris was even worse off as he rejoined the track in fifth position after his pit stop. Though he was able to catch up to fourth-place Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, passing him proved difficult for Norris (despite Piastri showing the McLaren was more than up to the task of passing Antonelli a lap earlier). All signs pointed to Norris finishing in fifth until, with just two laps to go, Antonelli ran wide and allowed Norris right past.

In the front of the race though, Verstappen was gifted a third consecutive win at Qatar. Yes, he maintained the lead all on his own, but Piastri was the head of the class this weekend and deserved the win if it wasn’t for two flubbed strategy calls from his team. Adding insult to injury, Verstappen’s win and Piastri’s second place had them flipping positions in the Driver’s Title race. At one point 104 points behind Piastri, Verstappen is now four points ahead of him!

Going into the final race of the season, Norris retains the lead in the championship, but by a mere 12 points. Verstappen is looming large in second place while Piastri, the driver who led the championship the longest, has slipped to third place, 14 points behind Norris. Any of the three drivers could still win the title, and Sunday, Dec. 7, is the day the world finds out who will win.

For both Norris and Piastri, this would be their first championship. Norris is currently in his seventh season while Piastri is in his third. Verstappen, currently in his eleventh season, is the reigning Driver’s World Champion, a title he has held for four years in a row now. His win in Qatar was his 70th win in his career, and 50th win while having the #1 on his car, showing he is the current Driver’s World Champion.

Whether you’ve watched every single race of the season, or none of them, the race at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates will be an exciting one with uncertainty lingering and opportunity awaiting three drivers. Tune in at 8 a.m. Eastern Time to find out if Norris, Verstappen, or Piastri will be celebrating with their team.