Formula 1’s Final-Race Title Battles: A History of High-Stakes Endings

For all its speed, noise and glamour, Formula 1 saves its finest theatre for the very end. And in 2025, we’re getting the kind of season finale fans dream about — a world championship hurtling toward the final race with everything still on the line.

It’s rarer than you think. In 75 seasons of Formula 1, the title has been decided in the final race 32 times including 8 times in the last 20 years. 2025 will mark the 7th time in F1 history that three or more drivers head into the final race with a shot at the title.

From Prost vs. Senna, to Hamilton vs. Massa, to Vettel’s relentless charge and Max Verstappen's late miracle in Abu Dhabi. Each of those finales didn’t just decide a champion; they defined an era.

So as we approach the 2025 showdown in Abu Dhabi between Lando Norris (McLaren), Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren), we’re not just watching another race. We’re witnessing one of motorsport’s most treasured sights: a season that refuses to be decided early, a title fight stretching every lap, every pit stop, every heartbeat — right to the very last lights out.

As we prepare for another Abu Dhabi classic on Sunday, the 07th of December 2025, let's recap some of the most iconic F1 title deciders till date.

1976 (Japan) - James Hunt (McLaren) vs Niki Lauda (Ferrari)

Immortalised in the film Rush (2013), the 1976 championship decider remains one of the most electrifying finales in Formula 1 history. Midway through the season, Niki Lauda — the reigning champion and then comfortably leading the standings — suffered a horrific, near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring. His absence allowed James Hunt to haul himself back into contention, setting up a tense showdown in Japan.

Arriving at Fuji, Lauda still held a three-point advantage, despite racing while barely recovered. But in the treacherous, rain-soaked conditions, he made the courageous decision to withdraw after the opening lap, leaving the door wide open for Hunt. What followed was a nerve-shredding charge: a late pit stop dropped Hunt down the order, forcing him to pull off multiple daring overtakes just to keep his title hopes alive. On the final lap, he made the decisive move — enough to secure third place and snatch the championship by a single point

2008 (Brazil) - Felipe Massa (Ferrari) vs Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

The 2008 championship decider in Brazil remains one of the most heart-stopping conclusions the sport has ever produced. Racing at home, Felipe Massa delivered a flawless performance — taking pole, mastering the changing conditions, and crossing the line as provisional world champion. For a few glorious seconds, his family, team, and a nation believed the title was his.

But Formula 1’s drama is never done until the final corner. Lewis Hamilton needed fifth place to seal the championship, yet a late rain shower dropped him to sixth, putting Massa on track to win the title by a single point. As Massa stood completed his race believing he had done enough to win the championship, Hamilton was still fighting through the spray on the last lap. And then came the twist: at the final corner, he overtook Timo Glock — struggling on dry tyres in the wet — to reclaim fifth.

With that move, Hamilton captured his first world championship by just 1 point (98 to 97), flipping the outcome in the last seconds and creating one of the most emotional, unforgettable finales in F1 history.

2010 (Abu Dhabi) - Sebestian Vettel (Red Bull) vs Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) vs Mark Webber (Red Bull) vs Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

The 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix delivered one of the most unpredictable championship finales the sport has seen. Four drivers — Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton — arrived with a mathematical shot at the title, but Alonso held the advantage and looked poised to complete a remarkable first season at Ferrari.

Vettel did everything he needed from pole, controlling the race with calm precision. But the real story unfolded behind him. A badly timed early pit stop for Webber dragged Alonso into covering the strategy, trapping both in traffic behind Vitaly Petrov’s Renault. Lap after lap, Alonso attacked, searched, lunged — but Petrov refused to budge. As the laps ticked down, Vettel simply disappeared up the road, while Alonso’s title hopes dissolved in the mirrors of a midfield car he could not pass.

When the chequered flag fell, Vettel crossed the line to become the youngest world champion in F1 history, sealing the title with 256 points, while Alonso — stranded in seventh — finished on 252, missing the championship by just 4 points. This was Vettel’s first of four back to back World Championship crowns.

2021 (Abu Dhabi) - Max Verstappen (Red Bull) vs Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

The 2021 title decider in Abu Dhabi will remain one of the most debated finales in Formula 1 history — a showdown that distilled an entire season of fierce rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen into one extraordinary, controversial lap. Arriving level on points after 21 races, it was a winner-takes-all duel unlike anything the sport had seen in decades: Hamilton chasing a record-breaking eighth crown, Verstappen hunting his first.

For most of the race, Hamilton had control. A blistering start, superior pace, and calm management put him comfortably on course for the championship. Verstappen, unable to match Hamilton’s speed on equal terms, appeared to be running out of laps and out of hope. And then, with five laps to go, came the moment that changed everything: a late safety car triggered by Nicholas Latifi’s crash.

What followed would shake the sport. Race control initially indicated that lapped cars would remain in place — only to reverse the decision moments later, allowing a select group to unlap themselves and placing Verstappen, on fresh soft tyres, directly behind Hamilton for a one-lap sprint to glory. On that final lap, Verstappen pounced into Turn 5, seizing the lead and refusing to give it back.

He crossed the line as world champion with 395.5 points, ahead of Hamilton’s 387.5, an 8-point margin that belied how impossibly close — and contentious — the battle had been. For Verstappen, it was the birth of an era. For Hamilton, a crushing twist in pursuit of history. For Formula 1, it was a finale that will be analysed, argued, and remembered for generations.

As we approach this year’s finale in Abu Dhabi, Lando Norris (McLaren) sits atop the standings with 408 points, ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) on 396 and teammate Oscar Piastri on 392. On paper, Norris needs only a third-place finish to clinch his first Formula 1 world title — a seemingly straightforward task in what appears to be the fastest car on the grid. But history offers a warning: in past three-way title deciders, the driver leading into the final round has never gone on to seal the championship.

Norris holds the advantage, Verstappen brings the weight of experience as he chases a fifth consecutive crown to match Schumacher’s streak and Piastri arrives as the dark horse with nothing to lose.

So who emerges as champion? At this point, your guess is as good as mine.