This weekend will see the final race of the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi with three drivers theoretically in with a chance of winning the title. No one expected this as back in August Max Verstappen was trailing Piastri by 104 points and Norris by 70. McLaren continuing to cock up and unravel has left the door wide open for Max to drive right through.
The Papaya rules that McLaren use are seen as being fair to both drivers, but if you look close enough and analyze certain events it looks from an outsiders perspective they have favored Norris. Call it bad luck or whatever you want last weeks amateurish strategic call to forgo a pit stop under the safety car cost Piastri the race and protected Norris's lead. Everyone was questioning this call and you have to wonder the fall out from this could see Piastri leaving McLaren for another team. Mark Webber who is Piastris agent was seen talking to various key members of other teams after the race. Maybe a coincidence, but I do not think so and a move is definitely on the cards. The drivers seats have already been confirmed for 2026 and depending on the results this weekend we could see musical chairs in the off season.
What Are The Permutations For The Top 3 Drivers?
Lando Norris is 12 points clear at the top and all he has to do is finish in the top 3 to win the Drivers Championship title. If Piastri wins and Norris comes 6th or lower then the Australian will win. Verstappen or Piastri needs to win to at least make a race out of this and put pressure on Norris.
I think there has to be some twists and turns yet to come and who knows maybe one of the three crashing in the first corner. We have not had many DNF's this season with the top cars as the cars generally have been very reliable.
I know many F1 fans are anti Norris because the Sky Sports commentary team have favored him all season. Many do not feel he deserves the title and this has been given to him on a silver platter and yet they have still found ways to cock this up. Personally I would love to see Piastri or Verstappen win the drivers championship as they seem to have the fighting spirit that Norris is lacking. Norris needs to win this race to prove he has the bottle and temperament to be a worthy champion which many feel he is lacking in these areas.
Max Will Take No Prisoners
The biggest problem Norris and Piastri have is knowing how aggressive 4 time world champion Max Verstappen is. Max has been given an opportunity even if it is an outside chance at best with a car that is clearly not as good. All he needs is a sniff and with nothing to lose one can expect some dive bombing over takes with both Norris and Piastri petrified they could crash out if they try and defend their positions. Max will be all in as coming second or third means he has nothing to lose and both McLaren drivers know this all too well. This should be a fun 90 minutes of viewing this weekend and I know I will be ready and waiting by the screen.
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Back in August also no body would have been betting a dime on Norris to become the champion.
Maybe the put the answer below in perspective, I am more a Norris fan. But I do respect both other drivers.
I do think that you do see this incorrect. I do agree that the Papaya rules more have been in favor then for Piastri. But in this case, Piastri did loose the race and Norris lost his first chance to become the World Champion.
I can understand with a lot imagination that they didn't want to call Piastri in because they weren't sure what Max would do. But in the case of Norris, they should have called him in. In that case, he would have ended probably on the second place maybe good enough to be crowned next week. Now it can still go to all three of them.
There could be so many great scenarios next Sunday. Suppose Max leading 5 laps before the end, Piastri second, Russell third and Norris fourth. Would they give Piastri the order to give his postions to Norris. Norris would be third then, good enough to win the title.
But hey, we do have 66% chance that some Flemish blood will win the title, so for me preferably Norris then Max, if both fail I will grant it to Piastri, who did took major steps in performance.
Last weekends race was 57 laps and tyre regulation stipulated tyre changes at 25 or less laps. The crash happened on lap 7 so it was the right call even if Max stayed out as 2 sets of tyres meant 50 laps and by not pitting they had to do 3 pit stops at an avg of 26 seconds versus 16 seconds of the safety car. The double stacking would have put Norris back in the pack. I still think it was the worst call of the season thus far. I do not think Piastri will give up a place to hand the title to Norris especially with Norris always saying he wants to earn the title and not be given it.
This weekend should be good whoever wins it.