Drivers who were contenders but missed out on Formula 1 title

After back-to-back dominant victories in Mexico and Brazil, the 25-year-old Brit finds himself with one hand on the title, 24 points clear in the Formula 1 standings, with just three races remaining. But it wasn't always this way.

Piastri’s coronation felt inevitable after his victory in Zandvoort was compounded by a Norris retirement. The Young Aussie's championship lead was the biggest it had been all season and felt insurmountable, while McLaren's much-maligned "Papaya Rules" were seemingly rendered irrelevant.

But just as Piastri was starting to dream of a maiden title in just his third season in Formula One, his more experienced teammate has produced a comeback for the ages.

In Mexico’s thin air, Norris delivered a surgical dismantling of the grid—winning by nearly half a minute, showing devastating one-lap and long-run pace to seize the championship lead. São Paulo’s cauldron brought more: Norris topped every session, controlled the Grand Prix from pole, and extended his lead at the summit with just three races remaining. Now, online betting sites can only see one man emerging with the title.

That is, of course, Norris, with the latest Bovada live betting odds pricing the Brit as a whopping 1/8 favorite to win the championship for the first time. Piastri, meanwhile, finds himself out at 6/1 while seemingly outgoing four-time champion Max Verstappen is now 11/1, far shorter than the 100/1 he was priced at in the summer, but still a distant outsider.

But for every fairytale told in Grand Prix racing, there are chapters written in agony. Yes, Norris has rallied, and for now, it looks as though he will overcome. But over the years, there have been a whole host of title comebacks which ultimately fell short of delivering the ultimate prize at the final hurdle. Here are three cautionary tales that Norris should certainly be aware of as the 2025 season's chequered flag prepares to fall for the final time.

Rewind to the 2016 Formula 1 season, and Lewis Hamilton was the hunter, chasing down fellow Mercedes man Nico Rosberg. Throughout the two seasons prior, it had been the German unsuccessfully chasing down his British teammate, missing out on the title on both occasions. This time around, however, the title was his to lose.

Four straight Rosberg wins to start the campaign put Hamilton 43 points in arrears. Barcelona detonated the rivalry, with the two Silver Arrows colliding on the first lap and gifting a teenage Max Verstappen his first win on his Red Bull debut. For many, this was mortal damage.

For Hamilton, it was ignition. He rattled off six wins in seven, storming past Monaco’s barriers, powering through the Battle of Austria, and triangulating a title charge at Hungary.

Yet, the F1 gods deal from a cold deck. After claiming the championship lead, Hamilton suffered an engine failure when leading in Malaysia. He retired, Rosberg won, reclaiming the title lead for himself while Hamilton was left distraught. “This has been the hardest day,” he confessed post-race, and all who watched could feel it.

Even as Rosberg stumbled during the run-in, Hamilton’s late-win barrage in the Americas and Abu Dhabi only shortened the gap, never erasing it. The final act? Hamilton controlled the Yas Marina finale’s pace, trying every psychological lever to rattle Rosberg and ultimately push him off the podium and thus out of the championship lead.

But the German held firm. He secured the second place he needed to be crowned champion for the first time before retiring into the sunset immediately thereafter, never allowing Hamilton his shot at redemption.

Some comebacks are built on a driver’s courage; others unravel on a strategy’s unforgiving chessboard. Fernando Alonso in 2010 exemplified both. Cast adrift by 41 points after Spa, Ferrari’s favorite son responded with a clinical trio—Monza, Singapore, Korea.

The prancing horse beat the drum, and by Yas Marina, the Spaniard led a four-way title fight and seemed poised for a third crown. The only obstacle? Strategic paranoia.

Ferrari blinked at Mark Webber’s early pit stop, doubting outsider Sebastian Vettel’s threat, and pitted Alonso early to cover off the Aussie. Suddenly, the man who’d conquered circuits worldwide was trapped behind Vitaly Petrov’s granite-willed Renault—a midfield sentinel.

Lap after lap, Alonso’s frustration grew, but Petrov would not yield. Trapped in seventh, Alonso lost the Formula 1 title to Vettel, who won the race and inherited the championship lead for the first time all season.

If comebacks had a face, it would be Michael Schumacher’s, weathered by victory and heartbreak alike. The 2006 Formula 1 campaign saw Fernando Alonso bolt out of the blocks, commanding by 25 points midseason, with many convinced the baton had changed hands.

Schumi, a gladiator to the end, reeled off signature wins at Imola, Indianapolis, and beyond—it was Ferrari’s “Red October,” a dead heat with just Japan and Brazil remaining.

In Suzuka, Schumacher led, the world title dangling within reach—until the rarest of events: a Ferrari engine expiring in the haze of Japan. A million hearts broke in Maranello.

The finale in Brazil was equally Shakespearean. A qualifying puncture, a race-day tire drama, and a Herculean drive through the field netted him only fourth—a race he had to win. Alonso’s quiet excellence saw him crowned, while Schumacher’s twilight surge went unrewarded but never unappreciated.