Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts from pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with F1 title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri alongside him in the top three.
Fittingly, the only drivers remaining in contention for the 2025 F1 world championship are the top three on the grid for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position from Saturday’s qualifying, setting him up quite nicely for his final charge to complete one of the most improbable F1 comebacks ever.
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are P2 and P3, respectively.
Crucially though, should Verstappen also win the Grand Prix, he’s not world champion if the qualifying order stays the same.
Up 12 points entering the final weekend of the season, Norris only needs to get on the podium to claim his first-ever title.
For Vertappen to take a fifth straight championship, the most straightforward way is for him to win the race and have Norris drop two places to P4.
Piastri’s path is a bit more complicated, as he’s 16 points behind.
After leading the championship for most of the season, Piastri is in the most precarious position in this final race. The simplest way for Oscar to take the title is to win the race and have Norris drop even further to P6.
If Piastri keeps his qualifying spot, he’s out of contention.
Rounding up the top-10 on the grid are George Russell on P4, Charles Leclerc on P5, then Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar, and Yuki Tsunoda.