One other layer has been added to the battle for the 2025 F1 Drivers’ Championship after Pink Bull’s Max Verstappen slashed the factors hole to McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on a dramatic weekend in Azerbaijan.
It means, with seven Grands Prix and three Dash weekends nonetheless to come back, 69 factors cowl Piastri in first, Norris in second and Verstappen in third – loads of paddock figures feeling there’s now a three-horse race for the crown.
So, might an unlikely comeback be on the playing cards? Whereas we look forward to the reply to that query, F1.com runs by way of another dramatic title-winning campaigns from years passed by…
1976 – James Hunt
The 1976 season is maybe probably the most well-known in F1 historical past, with it marking the well-known championship battle that performed out between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
Whereas Lauda had seemed to be the favorite throughout the early phases of the marketing campaign – getting into Spherical 10 of 16, the German Grand Prix, with a 23-point lead over Hunt – the image modified when the Austrian suffered severe burns in a horrifying fiery accident on the Nurburgring.
After making a outstanding restoration that noticed him return solely two months later with 4 races remaining, Lauda remained forward of Hunt by three factors getting into into the season finale in Japan.
However when the arrival of torrential rain at Fuji resulted in Lauda opting to withdraw from the occasion, Hunt’s third place end was sufficient for him to clinch his first and solely World Championship.
1982 – Keke Rosberg
With simply over two thirds of the 1982 Method 1 season full, Keke Rosberg was again in fifth place within the championship on 23 factors, whereas Didier Pironi led with a tally of 39. Pironi and his closest challengers – John Watson, Alain Prost and Lauda – had every scored two victories, however Rosberg had not but claimed a win.
Nevertheless, when Pironi sustained accidents in a crash on the German Grand Prix that in the end introduced his F1 profession to an finish, Rosberg discovered himself closing in on the title battle. Having damaged his duck by successful at Dijon, he entered the season finale with a nine-point benefit over closest challenger Watson.
Whereas Watson completed the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in second place, Rosberg’s fifth was all of the Finn wanted to earn him his sole drivers’ title.
2007 – Kimi Raikkonen
One of the crucial memorable championship turnarounds got here in 2007, a marketing campaign identified for the tense intra-team battle that unfolded at McLaren between rookie Lewis Hamilton and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton was on the head of the standings with 5 rounds remaining on 84 factors, 5 away from Alonso and 15 forward of third-placed Felipe Massa. Again in fourth was Kimi Raikkonen on 68 factors, the Finn having to date claimed three victories in his debut season for Ferrari.
Whereas one other win in Belgium helped Raikkonen to shut in, Hamilton and Alonso had been nonetheless forward with two races to go. However when Hamilton suffered his first F1 retirement on the penultimate spherical in China – having turn into beached within the gravel on the pit entrance in moist circumstances – Raikkonen took victory and put himself solely seven factors behind Hamilton within the title race.
The motive force referred to as ‘The Iceman’ went on to win once more on the season-closing Brazilian Grand Prix, with Alonso and Hamilton again in third and seventh respectively. This enabled Raikkonen to take the championship by only one level from the McLaren pair.
2012 – Sebastian Vettel
A person who is aware of all about title comebacks is Sebastian Vettel, whose first championship in 2010 – a 12 months that additionally witnessed a change within the points-scoring system, with 25 now awarded for a win – noticed him overturn Hamilton’s earlier benefit and take his debut title by simply 4 factors from Alonso.
However when it comes to bouncing again in significantly dramatic fashion, the 2012 season was particularly memorable. An eventful begin to the marketing campaign noticed a unique driver take victory at every of the opening seven races, with one among these claimed by Vettel.
Alonso, in the meantime, went on to construct a lead within the championship and, with eight races remaining, held 164 factors to Vettel’s 140. The German then bolstered his problem by embarking on a run of 4 consecutive wins within the latter a part of the season, that means that he led Alonso by 13 factors getting into into the finale in Brazil.
That benefit regarded to have evaporated only a few moments into the race, with Vettel dropping to the again of the sector following a first-lap incident with Bruno Senna. Regardless of sustaining harm to his automotive – and enduring a prolonged pit cease amid the arrival of rain – the Pink Bull driver in the end crossed the road in sixth, sufficient to beat second-placed Alonso to the title by three factors.
2014 – Lewis Hamilton
Whereas it is probably not the most important comeback numbers-wise, the battle for the 2014 championship was a noteworthy one; in addition to witnessing a dramatic turnaround from Hamilton, it additionally marked the primary 12 months of what would turn into a fierce intra-team rivalry between the Briton and Mercedes staff mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton had initially loved the higher begin of the Mercedes duo, successful 4 of the 5 opening races, however Rosberg took momentum – and the championship lead – with victory in Monaco. From there Hamilton slipped behind his staff mate and, when the season entered its summer time break, Rosberg held an 11-point benefit.
Whereas Daniel Ricciardo gained when the marketing campaign resumed at Spa-Francorchamps, Hamilton launched into a formidable resurgence that noticed him win six of the seven remaining Grands Prix.
Rosberg remained in competition for the title proper up till the season-closer in Abu Dhabi, however issues along with his automotive noticed him drop down the order to a remaining place of 14th, whereas Hamilton cemented his second World Championship by taking victory.
