Overview
- The championship will be decided over a three‑race, 14‑day finale at Las Vegas, Qatar and Yas Marina from November 22 to December 7.
- Lando Norris leads the drivers’ standings by 49 points over Max Verstappen with three races remaining, with Oscar Piastri also in the hunt.
- Pirelli will bring the C1–C3 range to Qatar with fixed sprint allocations of two hards, four mediums and six softs, and lap counts will be cumulative across sessions including Safety Car laps.
- Max Verstappen cautioned that pairing two top drivers invites internal friction as McLaren maintains equal status for Norris and Piastri after flashpoints in Canada, Italy and Singapore.
- McLaren boss Andrea Stella hailed the current grid as the most competitive in memory, while junior standout Mari Boya capped Macau with a podium after leading much of the main race.