Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri decide this Sunday who will be the great Formula 1 champion in 2025
This Sunday (7), he met the champion of the 2025 World Drivers’ Championship. He took his first title after finishing third in the Abu Dhabi GP. Secondly, the four-time champion, from Red Bull, did not achieve the historic turnaround. Thirdly, , Lando’s teammate, showed potential to fight in the future. Three drivers with a chance of becoming champion is something that rarely happens in the biggest category of world motorsport. Remember some other exciting occasions when the title of World Champion was decided in the last stage.
On the last lap
The 2021 season was one of the most competitive of all time. for , after winning 6 titles in the last 7 years, they knew a worthy opponent. Max Verstappen finally had the car and maturity to go head to head with the Brit.
Arriving in Abu Dhabi tied at 369.5 points, Hamilton leads the GP with ease and with a much newer engine than Verstappen, however, everything changed on lap 53. Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams and caused a yellow flag. With all the cars together and a controversial decision by race director Michael Masi, on lap 58, Verstappen and Hamilton would have a final duel. With more worn tires and Verstappen on new soft tires, at turn 5, the Dutchman ended the Englishman’s reign to begin his own.
The final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that still gives you goosebumps!🤩
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__)
Desolation in Interlagos
If the stars did not favor Hamilton in 2021, in 2008 the story was different. Arriving at Interlagos, the last stage, the Englishman was leading the championship with his McLaren by seven points. In second place, Felipe Massa and Ferrari were trying to repeat the miracle of 2007, in much more favorable conditions.
Massa didn’t make any mistakes. He took pole and dominated the race. However, the rain arrived in Interlagos, as usual. Hamilton was in sixth place, which gave the Brazilian the title, after stopping to change tires due to rain. Timo Glock, from Toyota, chose not to stop. Massa won the race. In the last corner of the track the German, who was in fifth, lost a lot of speed due to the slick tires and the Englishman headed for his first world title passing him. Massa and Brazil were champions at home for about 30 seconds.
2008 BRAZIL
BBC Radio 5 Live commentator David Croft’s take on the final lap at Interlagos
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) clinched his final win. And THAT moment involving you know who
— F1 Stats & No Bants (@CrystalRacing)
Miracle in Interlagos
In 2007, Ferrari and McLaren fought each other for the entire season. The English team assembled a dream team. and Lewis Hamilton were driving led by the legendary Ron Dennis. At the Italian team, Massa and Kimi Räikkönen were trying to make up for Michael Schumacher’s retirement.
Arriving for the last stage, again in Interlagos, Kimi was in third place in the championship with remote chances of the title. Hamilton and Alonso, who fought more than anything else this season, had the same problem in Brazil. The Englishman got lost trying to defend himself from the Spaniard and had exchange rate problems. It opened up space for the Finn to win the race and secure the title by a single point. It was the last drivers’ title for the Italians.
21 October 2007. Exactly 16 years have passed since that unforgettable Sunday in Interlagos. world champion with the . Who knows how much more time will have to pass to relive such joy. Thanks Kimi, Ferrari driver forever.
— Piero Ladisa (@PieroLadisa)
Petrov, Alonso and Vettel
Arriving at the last race of the crazy 2010 season, at the Abu Dhabi GP, four drivers had a chance at the title. Alonso, having won three of the last five races, and been on the podium in all of them, was leading with 246 points. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were in second and third place, respectively with 238 and 231 points. Lewis Hamilton was next with 222 points. The Spaniard only needed a second place to be champion. If Vettel won, fourth place would be enough.
But that wasn’t what happened. Vettel started on pole and never left first place. Alonso, who started third, tried to cover an early stop by Webber. The Spaniard was launched onto the track in seventh place behind Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. The Russian had already stopped in a safety car earlier, and ended up holding Alonso for 40 long laps. Vettel became the youngest champion in F1 history, aged 23 years and 134 days.
The still heartwarming moment when Sebastian Vettel won his first world championship title in 2010!
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__)
“Dick Crook”
The 1994 season is mainly remembered for the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola. Despite the tragedy, the competition continued. After Benetton’s initial dominance with Michael Schumacher, Williams, who had lost their great star at the beginning of the year, returned to the fight with Damon Hill.
In Adelaide, ending the year in Australia, Hill was just one point behind the German. Schumacher led most of the GP with the Englishman stuck to his back. However, after leaving the track on lap 36 and colliding with the wall, he brought the car back clearly slower. Hill tried to pass in the next corner, but was hit by the German who hit the side of the Williams. With the suspension broken, the Englishman was unable to return and Shumacher secured his first of seven titles, and indicated a series of events that would earn him the nickname “Dick Crook”. He would try to repeat the same maneuver in 1997, against Jacques Villeneuve, but was unsuccessful and was disqualified from the championship.
in 1994.
Michael Schumacher wins his first World Championship in controversial circumstances.
Title rivals Schumacher (Benetton-Ford) & Damon Hill (Williams-Renault) colliding on lap 36 of the Australian Grand Prix. Schumacher winning the title by a single point…
— Formula 1 Through the Years 🏁 (@Formula1_OTD)
Pop in Adeleide
The 1986 season saw Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna (forming the legendary quartet) taking turns winning the races, and deciding the championship on the Adelaide street circuit, in Australia. The Williams drivers (Piquet and Mansell) and Prost, from McLaren, had a chance at the title. Mansell started on pole, but let Rosberg, also from McLaren, lead as he was at a slower pace, managing the result, as third place was enough to be champion. Prost and Piquet needed to win.
Goodyear, the tire supplier, assured Williams that they would last the entire race. It didn’t happen. Leão’s right rear tire exploded at more than 280 km/h on the straight and ended the Englishman’s chances. Fearing that the same would happen to Piquet, who was now leading with Rosberg’s retirement, the team opted to stop him. This paved the way for Prost to take the lead, and even with little fuel, become champion twice in a row, which hadn’t happened since 1960, with Jack Brabaham.
“And look at that… That’s Mansell!”
Adelaide 1986 – Murray at his effervescent, captivating best
— Formula 1 (@F1)
