Piastri, Norris, Verstappen: How did they finish the 2024 F1 season?

Paradoxically, the 2025 season of F1 has been the subject of many twists and turns regarding the expectations of fans and observers. Between a Team Ferrari expected to be at the top before the start of hostilities, a team McLaren outrageously dominant during the first months of competition, and a strong comeback from Red Bull At the best of times, it seems that indecision remains, where certainties were still in place in the summer.

Concretely, Oscar piastri et Lando Norris still enjoy a significant lead over their main competitor, Max VerstappenWith a 40-point lead, the Australian leader could secure a certain cushion, even if he only wins one of the last races on the calendar. He could also be crowned champion if he were to finish second in each of the Grands Prix, even if the Dutchman wins each of the five remaining races on the calendar.

When it comes to taking the plunge and making a prediction, there are several versions of the story about to be written. Will McLaren maintain its lead? Will Max Verstappen have the resources to make the end of the F1 season "exciting" until the final start, to use his own words? Although the end of the 2024 season unfolded with a somewhat different dynamic, a look back at last year's scenario allows us to see a kind of trend emerging between the three protagonists.

From the Mexican Grand Prix, Verstappen has the advantage

Twelve months ago, the situation was somewhat reversed in terms of the forces present. McLaren was once again the leading force on the grid in terms of speed. car, while the triple world champion Verstappen was preparing to become quadruple thanks to a lead mainly built at the beginning of the season. On the other hand, although the "Papaya Boys" led by a Lando Norris nourished with hope for several months, had the ambition to make the Dutchman tremble, it was the latter who had achieved the best harvest at the end of the season.

Exceeding the speed limit during the Mexican Grand Prix in his duel with Lando Norris, the Red Bull team leader finished sixth in the first of five events at the end of the year, where the Briton moved up to second. Oscar Piastri finished eighth.

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As for what happened next, Max Verstappen literally managed to fly away from the two McLaren drivers. A winner in Brazil and Qatar, the ultimately crowned driver finished fifth in Las Vegas and sixth in Abu Dhabi, the finale of the 2024 F1 season. Despite Lando Norris' victory in the final round of the season, which notably allowed McLaren to clinch the Constructors' title at the expense of Ferrari, neither of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella's protégés really stood out in the final sprint.

Piastri, resistance called into question?

Scoring only 30 points during the end of the 2024 season, Oscar Piastri seemed, in 2025, to have demonstrated a consistency and a coolness testifying to a major gain. That said, while he had already had some more difficult ends to seasons in single-seaters, the Australian could again suffer the pangs of this trend this year. In 2020, while he was competing in Formula 3 for example, he had secured the title by just two points ahead of Theo Pourchaire, experiencing the last six races of the year with a fundamentally worse record than his French opponent – ​​five podiums against just one in favor of the Tricolore.

On a knife-edge, will the Aussie be able to experience a similar scenario again? Titled thanks to a lead he had built up beforehand? In any case, with 46 points more scored by a struggling Max Verstappen with his F1 RB-20 last year, the Dutchman would, theoretically, have deprived Oscar Piastri of the title given the 40 points separating them this year.