What F1 historical past tells us about three-way title deciders

1950 Italian GP, Monza – Farina takes decisive dwelling victory

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfa Romeo, 26pts2. Luigi Fagioli, Alfa Romeo, 24pts3. Giuseppe Farina, Alfa Romeo, 22pts

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Last standings1. Giuseppe Farina, Alfa Romeo, 30pts2. Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfa Romeo, 27pts3. Luigi Fagioli, Alfa Romeo, 24pts

Alfa Romeo staff: Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina, Felice Bonetto and Emmanuel de Graffenried

The inaugural season of the world championship was all in regards to the unrivalled Alfetta, which received all races (however the Indianapolis 500) and gave Alfa Romeo a 1-2-3 within the first world championship grand prix at Silverstone.

No one else collected greater than 10 factors earlier than the title decider, so it was all to play for between Alfa’s drivers, with an vital caveat: solely the very best 4 outcomes from the seven-round season could be taken into consideration.

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Whereas Farina and Fangio had shared the victories up to now with three points-scoring outcomes every, Fagioli had completed second on 4 events and subsequently wanted to win with the quickest lap to have the slightest probability of surpassing Fangio.

Fangio obtained pole place with Farina third and Fagioli fifth, however Farina took the lead on the primary lap and was solely challenged by ’s Alberto Ascari, whose engine overheated, resulting in his retirement.

A podium end would have sufficed for Fangio to prevail within the championship, and he was working in second when he retired resulting from gearbox points, awarding the title to Farina. Fagioli, in the meantime, completed third and scored no factors owing to the aforementioned rule.

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1951 Spanish GP, Pedralbes – Fangio sees off Ferrari risk

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfa Romeo, 27pts2. Alberto Ascari, Ferrari, 25pts3. Jose-Froilan Gonzalez, Ferrari, 21pts

Last standings1. Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfa Romeo, 31pts2. Alberto Ascari, Ferrari, 25pts3. Jose-Froilan Gonzalez, Ferrari, 24pts

Juan Manuel Fangio, Alfa Romeo 159

Ferrari turned an actual challenger to the Alfettas in 1951 with Alberto Ascari and Jose Froilan Gonzalez, whereas Alfa’s Giuseppe Farina was taken out of the working by technical failures at Silverstone and the Nurburgring.

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The ‘greatest 4 outcomes’ rule was nonetheless in use, which means Gonzalez wanted victory, the quickest lap and a Fangio non-score to win the championship, whereas Ascari’s title bid required him to complete not less than second.

However Fangio already had the very best outcomes of anybody up to now, so he wanted second place to enhance his tally by one level or a victory to place himself out of attain.

That’s precisely what he did on the very simple Pedralbes observe, situated in Barcelona, which was 6.3km lengthy and featured six corners. Fangio was overwhelmed to pole by Ascari by 1.68s, however Ferrari bumped into tyre points and Alfa’s Argentine handed him on lap 4, main all the best way to the chequered flag for his first world title.

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1959 United States GP, Sebring – Brabham prevails after working out of gas

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Jack Brabham, Cooper, 31pts2. Stirling Moss, Cooper/BRM, 25.5pts3. Tony Brooks, Vanwall, 23pts

Last standings1. Jack Brabham, Cooper, 31pts2. Tony Brooks, Vanwall, 27pts3. Stirling Moss, Cooper/BRM, 25.5pts

Jack Brabham pushes his Cooper-Climax to 1959 F1 Championship Title on the ultimate lap

There have been no world champions on the grid in 1959 after Juan Manuel Fangio and Mike Hawthorn retired. Jack Brabham’s season began ideally with 4 podiums, together with two victories, which meant that midway by the nine-round marketing campaign (together with the Indy 500) the Cooper driver was on 27 factors, with Vanwall’s Tony Brooks on 14 and everybody else on 9 or fewer.

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A clutch challenge took Brabham out of the German GP at AVUS, then he crashed out of the Monsanto race in Portugal, blowing the championship race open.

Each driver’s greatest 5 outcomes counted in direction of the standings, which meant Stirling Moss would lose one level if he scored, whereas something worse than a podium end could be ineffective to Brabham. Moss wanted not less than second place for a title probability, whereas Brooks required a win.

Moss took pole at Sebring, three seconds quicker than runner-up Brabham on the 8.4km Floridian observe, with Harry Schell making it a Cooper 1-2-3 forward of Brooks.

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Moss led Brabham by 10 seconds after 5 laps, however gearbox hassle took him out of the race and title rivalry.

Brabham went on to dominate the race however ran out of gas on the final lap. This wasn’t sufficient to jeopardise his championship, as Bruce and Maurice Trintignant have been three minutes forward of Brooks, who wanted to win; Brabham pushed his automobile to fourth, and triumphed.

1964 Mexican GP, Mexico – Clark’s last-gasp retirement palms title to Surtees

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Graham Hill, BRM, 39pts2. John Surtees, Ferrari, 34pts3. Jim Clark, Lotus, 30pts

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Last standings1. John Surtees, Ferrari, 40pts2. Graham Hill, BRM, 39pts3. Jim Clark, Lotus, 32pts

Champion John Surtees, Ferrari

For those who thought the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix was distinctive within the title altering palms on the very finish of the finale, please rethink.

Graham Hill had been probably the most constant driver over the 1964 season, however solely the very best six outcomes counted, so he wasn’t going to enhance his factors tally except he completed on the rostrum once more in Mexico.

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Ferrari’s John Surtees was his closest challenger, requiring not less than second place to surpass the Briton, whereas Jim Clark wanted to win and for Surtees to not do higher than third.

Clark had been the strongest driver that season, taking 4 out of 9 pole positions so far and profitable each race that he didn’t retire from – solely three, as his Lotus’ fragility value him pricey in each different spherical.

Clark was quickest once more, by almost one second, at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the place he led Dan Gurney and Surtees’ team-mate Lorenzo Bandini on the grid, with Surtees and Hill down in fourth and sixth respectively. Each of them misplaced even additional floor firstly, because the BRM driver was readjusting his goggles when the flag dropped.

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The state of affairs was ultimate for Clark. He led, with Hill tenth and Surtees thirteenth. The Englishmen fought their method as much as third and fifth respectively by lap 18 – such a end result would have given the title to Hill by one level. However on lap 31, he and Bandini collided on the hairpin, which broken the BRM’s exhaust pipes. Hill dropped exterior of the highest 10 positions and by no means recovered.

The title simply appeared to belong to Clark. However with some eight laps remaining, the Lotus suffered an oil leak. Clark misplaced the result in Gurney on the penultimate lap, which handed the title again to Hill, then retired on the final tour.

However it wasn’t over. Having inherited second place, Bandini waved team-mate Surtees by, gifting him and Ferrari the world title.

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1974 US GP, Watkins Glen – Fittipaldi comes out on high

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Emerson Fittipaldi, McLaren, 52pts2. Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari, 52pts3. Jody Scheckter, Tyrrell, 45pts

Last standings1. Emerson Fittipaldi, McLaren, 55pts2. Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari, 52pts3. Jody Scheckter, Tyrrell, 45pts

Emerson Fittipaldi, McLaren, Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari, John Watson, Brabham

1974 was a topsy-turvy season with 4 drivers in rivalry for the title – together with Ferrari’s Niki Lauda, who led after spherical 10 of 15 however retired from the final 5 races.

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Subsequently it was a probable duel between Emerson Fittipaldi and Clay Regazzoni, who have been stage on factors – except they each completed exterior the highest 5 and Jody Scheckter, finishing his first full F1 marketing campaign, received.

All of them ended up exterior the highest 5 on the grid at Watkins Glen, with Scheckter, Fittipaldi and Regazzoni sixth, eighth and ninth respectively. Brabham’s Carlos Reutemann obtained pole by 0.017s over Hesketh’s James Hunt, set for his first front-row begin.

Reutemann led the race from begin to end, ruling Scheckter out of title rivalry – the South African retired from fourth anyway resulting from a mechanical challenge.

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Subsequently it turned all about who completed in entrance between Fittipaldi and Regazzoni, however the Swiss dropped down the order as he complained about his Ferrari’s dealing with, ending a lowly eleventh. Fittipaldi took fourth place and his second crown.

1981, Caesars Palace GP – Piquet topped by simply two seconds

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Carlos Reutemann, , 49pts2. Nelson Piquet, Brabham, 48pts3. Jacques Laffite, Ligier, 43pts

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Last standings1. Nelson Piquet, Brabham, 50pts2. Carlos Reutemann, Williams, 49pts3. Alan Jones, Williams, 46pts4. Jacques Laffite, Ligier, 44pts

Nelson Piquet, Brabham

1981 was one other hotly contested season, with 5 drivers inside 12 factors forward of the title decider – however solely three had a mathematical probability to win the title.

The season finale passed off on the unloved Caesars Palace observe in Las Vegas. Carlos Reutemann took pole place regardless of spectacularly colliding with title rival Nelson Piquet in qualifying, with the Brazilian taking fourth on the grid however neck ache on the anti-clockwise observe. Jacques Laffite complained of engine gremlins and located himself down in twelfth.

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Laffite wanted not less than second place to have the slightest probability of surpassing Reutemann, and he remarkably fought his solution to that very place by lap 32 when Alain Prost pitted for brand new tyres, however the Ligier driver’s Michelin rubber ended up affected by the sweltering situations too and he dropped down the order.

Extra importantly, Reutemann tumbled right down to fifth on the opening lap, then misplaced two additional positions to seek out himself seventh, simply forward of Piquet.

The Williams driver was affected by gearbox points and was overtaken by Piquet on lap 17, with the Brazilian executing a clear, essential manoeuvre for the title.

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Retirements for Gilles Villeneuve and Mario Andretti helped the title-contending duo climb again up the order, however Reutemann was struggling an excessive amount of after shedding fourth gear. An exhausted Piquet ended up fifth, simply two seconds forward of Laffite and John Watson. That made the distinction within the title battle.

1983 South African GP, Kyalami – Piquet prevails as unreliability strikes rivals

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Alain Prost, Renault, 57pts2. Nelson Piquet, Brabham, 55pts3. Rene Arnoux, Ferrari, 49pts

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Last standings1. Nelson Piquet, Brabham, 59pts2. Alain Prost, Renault, 57pts 3. Rene Arnoux, Ferrari, 49pts

Nelson Piquet, Brabham BT52B BMW, punches the air on the end

Ferrari had the very best one-lap tempo in 1983 as Rene Arnoux and Patrick Tambay obtained 4 poles every, however struggled to get constant sufficient outcomes – regardless that the Scuderia received the constructors’ title and Arnoux recovered from a poor first half of the season to develop into a darkish horse for the title, with three wins and two second locations in six grands prix.

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Arnoux nonetheless wanted one other victory in Kyalami, with fellow countryman Alain Prost main the standings for Renault by two factors forward of Brabham’s Nelson Piquet.

Regardless of Ferrari letting him go for 1984, Tambay gave his all and took pole forward of the 2 Brabhams, with Piquet main Riccardo Patrese. Arnoux and Prost began from fourth and fifth on the grid, which gave Piquet the benefit for the title.

All of the extra in order the Brazilian snatched the lead firstly and instantly pulled away. Arnoux retired from eighth as early as lap 10, as his engine overheated. By lap 28, Piquet led team-mate Patrese by 28 seconds, with McLaren’s Lauda shadowing the Italian. Prost was down in fourth, six seconds additional in arrears.

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Alain Prost, Renault RE40 V6

Piquet’s benefit was such that he might afford pitting for brand new tyres and rejoining within the lead. In the long run, it mattered little. Prost retired on lap 36 with turbo points, which means all Piquet needed to do was end fourth and rating three factors. He cruised to the end and duly stood on the third spot of the rostrum.

1986 Australian GP, Adelaide – Mansell’s blown tyre advantages Prost

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Nigel Mansell, Williams, 70pts2. Alain Prost, McLaren, 64pts3. Nelson Piquet, Williams, 63pts

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Last standings1. Alain Prost, McLaren, 72pts2. Nigel Mansell, Williams, 70pts 3. Nelson Piquet, Williams, 69pts

Podium: race winner Alain Prost, McLaren TAG Porsche, second place Nelson Piquet, Williams Honda, third place Stefan Johansson, Ferrari

For the primary time for the reason that Fifties, two team-mates tackled the season finale with title possibilities. Staff-mates, however rivals above all, with growing acrimony between Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.

Erstwhile championship chief Ayrton Senna had dropped out of rivalry resulting from his Lotus’ unreliability, and Mansell was in a first-rate place to win the title. However solely a competitor’s greatest 11 outcomes counted in direction of the championship; each Alain Prost and Piquet might attain 72 factors with a victory, during which case Mansell wanted to complete second to see them off, owing to countback guidelines.

Mansell and Piquet took a 1-2 in qualifying, with Senna and Prost on the second row on the grid, however the Frenchman’s team-mate, Keke Rosberg, unexpectedly surged into the lead. The Finn disappeared into the gap, together with his lead surpassing 30 seconds midway by the race.

In the meantime, Prost overtook each Williams vehicles as Mansell tried to handle his equipment and Piquet spun. This meant Prost was able to win the title; because it stood, if Rosberg let his team-mate by, McLaren’s lead driver would finish the season on 72 factors – as many as Mansell, however profitable on countback as he had extra second locations.

Nonetheless, Prost clipped Berger’s Benetton when lapping the Austrian and pitted for brand new tyres on lap 32. Goodyear had beforehand really useful a one-stop technique, however after inspecting the McLaren’s rubber, suggested all runners that the entire race may very well be run on the identical set of tyres.

Going into lap 63 of 82, Rosberg led his rivals by 22 seconds, with Prost placing stress on Mansell for third place. That was when the Finn’s right-rear tyre delaminated. However Williams didn’t have time to warn its drivers, and Mansell’s tyre exploded on the subsequent tour. He retired and risked shedding the title if Piquet or Prost received.

Nigel Mansell, Williams FW11

Williams performed it secure and referred to as Piquet in for brand new tyres; the Brazilian couldn’t make up the misplaced time regardless of his tempo, which means Prost received the race and the world championship.

2007 Brazilian GP, Interlagos – Raikkonen surges from behind

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. , McLaren, 107pts2. , McLaren, 103pts3. , Ferrari, 100pts

Last standings1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 110pts2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 109pts3. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 109pts

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari celebrates on the rostrum

2007 marked one other intra-team rivalry as rookie Lewis Hamilton and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso went head-to-head for the title.

Hamilton’s maiden season had been nothing in need of distinctive, and the 22-year-old Briton was the overwhelming favorite to win the title after profitable a moist Japanese GP whereas Alonso crashed out. He then led his team-mate by 12 factors and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by 17.

McLaren nonetheless did not pit Hamilton early sufficient on a drying observe in Shanghai, and he obtained beached within the gravel entice at pitlane entry after his tyres obtained worn right down to the canvas, establishing an interesting title decider.

Second Ferrari driver took pole at his dwelling observe, main Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso on the grid.

Hamilton was handed by each his rivals on the opening lap, locking up as he tried to battle again in opposition to Alonso and dropping right down to eighth. Just a few laps later, the English teenager encountered a gearbox challenge and located himself down in 18th.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes with a lock up

Because it stood, Alonso was on 109 factors, Raikkonen on 108 and Hamilton on 107.

Hamilton recovered to seventh place, sufficient to get again forward of Alonso on countback within the standings, however Raikkonen overcut Massa within the second spherical of pitstops, giving him the additional two factors he wanted to win the title.

Publish-race, the Williams and BMW vehicles have been investigated over gas temperature, as gas was not allowed to be greater than 10C colder than ambient temperature. Had they been disqualified, Hamilton would have scored three extra factors, with the title switching again to him.

Stewards cleared these vehicles of wrongdoing as they deemed they lacked the required knowledge to show the gas’s precise temperature. McLaren unsuccessfully appealed the choice.

2010 Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina – Vettel triumphs as Alonso, Webber fall into entice

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 246pts2. , Purple Bull, 238pts3. , Purple Bull, 231pts4. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 222pts

Last standings1. Sebastian Vettel, Purple Bull, 256pts 2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 252pts3. Mark Webber, Purple Bull, 242pts4. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 240pts

Sebastian Vettel, Purple Bull Racing RB6 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB6

Sebastian Vettel, Purple Bull Racing RB6

For the one time in F1 historical past, 4 drivers have been in rivalry for the title going into the season finale, as they shared all victories from spherical 5 onwards.

Lewis Hamilton wanted to win, Sebastian Vettel required not less than second place, and Mark Webber necessitated a top-five end to have an opportunity to surpass Fernando Alonso.

Vettel took a decisive pole place, outpacing Hamilton by 0.031s with Alonso third and Webber down in fifth.

Because it stood, Alonso was primed to win the title with 261 factors, main Vettel (256), Webber (248) and Hamilton (240). Alonso was handed by Button on the opening lap, however nonetheless had sufficient to be topped, as he was just about on 258 factors.

The important thing second of the race was Webber pitting as early as lap 11 as he struggled on the supersoft tyre compound. He was Alonso’s predominant risk for the title, so Ferrari determined to cowl him and referred to as Alonso in. The Spaniard rejoined in twelfth forward of Webber, however behind Renault’s , who had executed his obligatory pitstop beneath security automobile situations on the primary lap.

Vitaly Petrov, Renault R30

Within the final pre-DRS race, a dejected Alonso by no means managed to overhaul the Russian rookie. He completed seventh, proper forward of Webber, whereas Vettel snatched the lead of the championship for the very first time of his profession – at the easiest time.

2025 Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina – All to play for between Norris, Verstappen and Piastri

Championship state of affairs earlier than the title decider1. , McLaren, 408pts2. , Purple Bull, 396pts3. , McLaren, 392pts

Max Verstappen has been mounting a sensational problem in opposition to McLaren after being greater than 100 factors down on the championship lead on the finish of August.

Lando Norris has the sting going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, however Verstappen and Oscar Piastri’s possibilities are usually not unreasonable. Discover all title permutations under.

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