Formula One’s Championship Permutations

F1 - Italian Grand Prix - Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy - September 6, 2025 Red Bull's Max Verstappen poses after qualifying in pole position with second placed McLaren's Lando Norris and third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri. (Reuters)

10:51-3 December 2025 AD ـ 12 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1447 AH

Formula One’s Championship Permutations

Lando Norris (McLaren), Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) are the three title contenders going into Sunday's Abu Dhabi season-ender at Yas Marina.

It will be the first time the final race has had more than two drivers still in the frame since a four-way battle in 2010 and could end a reign that started for Verstappen at the same circuit in 2021.

Since the first world championship season in 1950, the title has gone down to the wire on 31 occasions and been won by the driver leading into the last race on all but nine times.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, overturning a 15-point deficit to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso from third place overall in 2010, was the last driver to come from behind and seize the title in the final round.

Kimi Raikkonen, with Ferrari in 2007, was the only other driver to do it this century.

The following looks at the possible permutations:

NORRIS (408 points) is champion if he finishes:

- On the podium.

- Fourth or fifth and Verstappen does not win

- Sixth or seventh and neither Verstappen nor Piastri wins

- Eighth and Verstappen is not in the top two and Piastri does not win

- Ninth and Verstappen is not on the podium and Piastri does not win

- 10th or lower and Verstappen is not on the podium and Piastri no higher than third.

VERSTAPPEN (396) is champion if:

- He wins and Norris is not on the podium

- He finishes second and Norris is no higher than eighth and Piastri does not win.

- He finishes third and Norris is ninth or lower and Piastri does not win

PIASTRI (392) is champion if:

- He wins and Norris is not in the top five

- He finishes second and Norris is 10th or lower and Verstappen not on the podium

In the unlikely event that Norris and Verstappen end up tied on points, the number of wins will decide the title on an initial countback.

Since they are level on seven wins, and a tie would only be possible if neither of them win, the countback would go down to second places over the 24-race season. In that scenario, Norris would win.

Verstappen and Piastri cannot end up as the top two tied on points, given Norris's advantage.

Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

18:18-17 February 2026 AD ـ 29 Sha’ban 1447 AH

Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

The owner of ‌Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk has donated more than $200,000 to skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after the athlete was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games before competing over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the club said on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Heraskevych was disqualified last week when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet — depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 — breached rules on athletes' expression at ‌the Games.

He ‌then lost an appeal at the Court ‌of ⁠Arbitration for Sport hours ⁠before the final two runs of his competition, having missed the first two runs due to his disqualification.

Heraskevych had been allowed to train with the helmet that displayed the faces of 24 dead Ukrainian athletes for several days in Cortina d'Ampezzo where the sliding center is, but the International Olympic Committee then ⁠warned him a day before his competition ‌started that he could not wear ‌it there.

“Vlad Heraskevych was denied the opportunity to compete for victory ‌at the Olympic Games, yet he returns to Ukraine a ‌true winner," Shakhtar President Rinat Akhmetov said in a club statement.

"The respect and pride he has earned among Ukrainians through his actions are the highest reward. At the same time, I want him to ‌have enough energy and resources to continue his sporting career, as well as to fight ⁠for truth, freedom ⁠and the remembrance of those who gave their lives for Ukraine," he said.

The amount is equal to the prize money Ukraine pays athletes who win a gold medal at the Games.

The case dominated headlines early on at the Olympics, with IOC President Kirsty Coventry meeting Heraskevych on Thursday morning at the sliding venue in a failed last-minute attempt to broker a compromise.

The IOC suggested he wear a black armband and display the helmet before and after the race, but said using it in competition breached rules on keeping politics off fields of play. Heraskevych also earned praise from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Sports

Speed Skating-Italy Clinch Shock Men’s Team Pursuit Gold, Canada Successfully Defend Women’s Title

Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)

18:15-17 February 2026 AD ـ 29 Sha’ban 1447 AH

Speed Skating-Italy Clinch Shock Men’s Team Pursuit Gold, Canada Successfully Defend Women’s Title

An inspired Italy delighted the home crowd with a stunning victory in the Olympic men's team pursuit final as

Canada's Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann delivered another seamless performance to beat the Netherlands in the women's event and retain their title ‌on Tuesday.

Italy's ‌men upset the US who ‌arrived ⁠at the Games ⁠as world champions and gold medal favorites.

Spurred on by double Olympic champion Francesca Lollobrigida, the Italian team of Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti electrified a frenzied arena as they stormed ⁠to a time of three ‌minutes 39.20 seconds - ‌a commanding 4.51 seconds clear of the ‌Americans with China taking bronze.

The roar inside ‌the venue as Italy powered home was thunderous as the crowd rose to their feet, cheering the host nation to one ‌of their most special golds of a highly successful Games.

Canada's women ⁠crossed ⁠the line 0.96 seconds ahead of the Netherlands, stopping the clock at two minutes 55.81 seconds, and

Japan rounded out the women's podium by beating the US in the Final B.

It was only Canada's third gold medal of the Games, following Mikael Kingsbury's win in men's dual moguls and Megan Oldham's victory in women's freeski big air.

Sports

Lindsey Vonn Back in US Following Crash in Olympic Downhill

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)

09:45-17 February 2026 AD ـ 29 Sha’ban 1447 AH

Lindsey Vonn Back in US Following Crash in Olympic Downhill

Lindsey Vonn is back home in the US following a week of treatment at a hospital in Italy after breaking her left leg in the Olympic downhill at the Milan Cortina Games.

“Haven’t stood on my feet in over a week... been in a hospital bed immobile since my race. And although I’m not yet able to stand, being back on home soil feels amazing,” Vonn posted on X with an American flag emoji. “Huge thank you to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me.”

The 41-year-old Vonn suffered a complex tibia fracture that has already been operated on multiple times following her Feb. 8 crash. She has said she'll need more surgery in the US.

Nine days before her fall in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Vonn ruptured the ACL in her left knee in another crash in Switzerland.

Even before then, all eyes had been on her as the feel-good story heading into the Olympics for her comeback after nearly six years of retirement.

Formula One’s Championship Permutations

Formula One’s Championship Permutations

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Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

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