It’s still early days in the 2025 season to say for certain who will emerge as Drivers’ Champion. Oscar Piastri has made a dominant start, winning four of the first six races, but the story could shift in the coming weeks. Still, if the record books could speak, they’d suggest Piastri holds a significant advantage.
After a slow beginning to the campaign with a P9 finish in Australia, Piastri has won every outing barring a third-place finish at the Bahrain GP. As things stand, he holds a 16-point advantage over second-placed Lando Norris in the standings.
Now, it’s all down to Piastri to carry forward this momentum and keep adding to his tally.
If the Melbourne-born driver is looking for a mental edge, however, he can rest easy knowing that 96% of the drivers who have been in his position at this stage of the season have gone on to lift the Drivers’ title by the end of the campaign.
There have been 27 seasons in which a driver has won four of the opening six Grands Prix. And among them, just one has failed to convert it into glory. That was Niki Lauda, whose 1976 season ultimately unraveled.
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It was the iconic year that saw Lauda go wheel-to-wheel with James Hunt — a rivalry immortalized in the 2013 Hollywood film Rush. But the season turned out to be about much more than just a title battle.
In fact, Lauda was fortunate to even be alive after his shocking Nürburgring crash that year.
Driving for Ferrari, Lauda lost control of his car in wet conditions and hit the barriers, resulting in a fiery accident. He suffered severe burns and inhaled a large amount of toxic fumes, with many fearing for his life. Remarkably, he returned to racing just six weeks later.
Niki Lauda survived a huge crash #OnThisDay at the 1976 #GermanGP. Miraculously, he was back racing six weeks later. pic.twitter.com/BXLUpXWprw
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2016
Had Lauda been able to compete in the two races he missed he might have beaten Hunt to the title. So perhaps the statistic of drivers converting four wins from the first six races into a championship would be 100% if not for that crash.
That said, the 2025 season has shaped up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. While McLaren appear to have the most dominant package on the grid, Red Bull — with Verstappen — have already shown flashes of race-winning pace in Japan and last weekend in Miami.
Mercedes, too, don’t seem far off. George Russell has had his best start to a season, finishing in the top five in every competitive session — sprint qualifying, sprint race, qualifying, and Grand Prix — he’s participated in so far.
Still, Piastri’s greatest threat is likely to come from within. Norris may have stumbled in recent weeks, but if he regains form, a couple of wins could erase Piastri’s advantage in the standings altogether.
