Reigning Champion Max Verstappen is still trailing in points, but the Red Bull Racing F1 driver is catching up fast in the 2025 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship competition. McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, the early-season favorites, have led the field through the 20 races to date. But nobody puts Max in the corner.
With only four Grand Prix races remaining this year, including two with additional shorter Sprint races and the chance to earn extra points, Norris is now in the lead with 357 Championship points, one up on Piastri’s 356 points. Verstappen has 321 points.
Norris and Piastri have swapped leadership twice
Lando Norris won the 2025 Australian Grand Prix in March and was the top point-scorer through the first four F1 events. Piastri, the winner of seven Grand Prix so far this season, overtook Norris in points in mid-April after the Saudi Arabia event and led the field until Norris won the Mexico City Grand Prix on October 26.
Due to its two winning drivers this season, McLaren has already wrapped up the 2025 F1 Constructors Championship. It looked like McLaren had a lock on the Drivers Championship as well, with either Norris or Piastri. But then Max began to pour it on.
Verstappen is getting closer in points
Verstappen was 104 points behind Piastri after the Netherlands GP at the end of August, but superior performances since then have brought him within 36 points of Norris. It gets a little confusing because Norris and Piastri have traded leadership positions twice, but the point is that Max is pushing hard as the improved Red Bull car appears to be giving him a shot at his fifth consecutive Drivers Championship.
Since the Grand Prix in the Netherlands, Max finished P1 at Monza, in Azerbaijan, and Austin, P2 in Singapore, and P3 in Mexico. Max also won the Sprint race in Austin, achieving a rare sweep by qualifying for pole position and winning both the Sprint race and the Grand Prix. In this streak, Max has won 116 points, Piastri 72, and Norris 82.
