It all comes down to the Abu Dhabi GP, with either Lando Norris, Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri set to be crowned 2025 F1 world champion.
Norris holds the advantage here, standing 12 points clear of Max Verstappen and 16 points clear of his teammate Piastri. So, all Norris needs to do to clinch his maiden title is to finish on the podium. Now, several scenarios can come into play here, including one where McLaren may have to resort to using team orders to ensure Norris wins the title. In such a scenario, 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button believes Piastri will have to “take it on the chin”.
Jenson Button on 2025 F1 title battle
“If you’re asked to help your teammate, you’ve got to do it”
McLaren has already confirmed that it’s willing to use team orders if that ensures one of its drivers the title. One such scenario could be if Verstappen is on course to winning the race, and Piastri is P3, ahead of Norris in P4. In this case, asking Piastri to let his teammate through would play a decisive role in Norris winning the title.
When asked whether Piastri should follow a team order like this, Button replied, “If he wants to be driving for McLaren and [wants] fair treatment over the next couple of years? Yeah.”
“I can imagine it’s a difficult position, but the reason for him being in this position is that he hasn’t done a good enough job over the last few races,” Button told select Indian media, including Autocar India, ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP. “So, you’ve just got to take it on the chin. And if you’re asked to help your teammate, you’ve got to do it. It’s a team sport and you want that team behind you if you’re fighting for a championship in the future.”
Button also added that he believes McLaren has tried to give both of its drivers equal opportunity this season, but has perhaps tried to control matters a bit too much. “I think they’ve given both drivers an opportunity to fight for the world championship, which is what you hope your team can do,” he told Autocar India.
“It’s been a tricky one with McLaren. I think they’ve tried to control things a little bit too much and you saw that earlier in the year when they made a mistake on Lando’s pit-stop at Monza, which meant he lost second place to Oscar and then he (Piastri) had to give that position back,” Button added.
“I think at that point, as a driver if you’re in a position of being a little bit insecure, what they’re looking at is ‘my teammate is the number one driver, that we’re not getting fair treatment’. But I think what McLaren was trying to do was to give everyone fair treatment, it just came across wrong in that race.”
Max Verstappen’s advantage
Of course, four-time F1 world champion Verstappen also remains in title contention and he’ll be starting from pole at Abu Dhabi. Button highlights that Verstappen’s previous experience of dealing with the pressures of fighting for an F1 title is a “massive advantage”.
“The thing about Max is that he’s just there to go racing. He loves the competition, he loves winning. So, there’s no pressure on his shoulders. Whereas the other two [have] a lot of pressure,” Button explained.
“It’s the first time they’ve had an opportunity to fight for the world championship. That is a big deal. This could be their dreams coming true. You can tighten up under that pressure and it really can affect you. So, it’s an advantage for Max”
F1 title will be decided by how Norris handles pressure, says Button
But either way, Button believes that it’s still Norris’ title to lose. “Even if Max wins the race, it’s not down to Max this weekend,” he said.
“It’s all about how Lando deals with the pressure. And that’s what is going to win the championship for either Max or Lando.”
Fans can catch the Abu Dhabi GP finale live tonight at 6:30pm (IST) on FanCode.
Also see:
2025 F1 title battle: How Norris, Verstappen or Piastri can win the championship