The crucial F1 championship battle that nobody is talking about

With four races remaining in the 2025 F1 season, we are all focused on the thrilling championship battle between Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

But further back, there is a battle that could have much more important ramifications for 2026, and beyond.

Behind fourth-placed Red Bull, there are six teams in the constructors' championship who are all jostling for position, trying to finish as high up as possible in order to claim the financial rewards that are associated with each position.

The midfield battle has been incredibly tight in 2025, with multiple twists and turns providing all six of those teams with periods of looking like the next best team behind the 'big four', as well as having periods where they've looked like the slowest team on the entire grid.

Indeed, three of the six teams have achieved grand prix podiums in 2025, one of them has had a fourth-place finish, and the team currently sat last in the constructors' championship, Alpine, achieved a double podium finish at the end of the 2024 season.

Why is finishing fifth in the constructors' championship so important?

The difference between fifth and sixth in the constructors' championship is worth millions, and between sixth and 10th is even more of a drop off.

Williams currently hold a commanding position in the championship in terms of that fifth spot, but there are a gaggle of teams behind them all hoping to claim sixth, and potentially even attempt to catch the Grove-based outfit in the remaining four race weekends.

As Alpine proved at the 2024 Brazilian GP by moving from ninth to sixth in the championship with just one good result, every weekend from now until the end of the season is crucial for the future of all six teams.

The four teams currently placed between sixth-ninth are separated by a measly 12 points, and all of them want to be on the front foot for new regulation changes sweeping into the sport in 2026, particularly with a new team in the form of Cadillac also joining that battle.

Williams - 111 points

There's no doubt that Williams are the strong favourites to achieve fifth spot with four race weekends remaining.

Alex Albon's early season form - when he claimed seven top-seven grands prix finishes in the first 16 races - coupled with Carlos Sainz's late-season flurry of points, has put the Grove-based outfit in a commanding position.

They have a 39-point lead over Racing Bulls in sixth, but a few low-scoring weekends recently might just have them looking over their shoulders.

Williams will still need multiple points-scoring results in order to make absolutely sure of fifth.

Racing Bulls - 72 points

This is where the real fight begins. Racing Bulls are sat in sixth, but are just three points ahead of Aston Martin, and 10 points ahead of a Haas team that are still bringing upgrades to their car.

Isack Hadjar's maiden career podium at the Dutch Grand Prix earlier this year has certainly helped their cause, and such is the fine margins, they'd be sat ninth without that result.

But it could be argued that they've therefore had their outstanding performance of the season, and maybe it's the turn of some of their rivals behind to have a similar season-defining results.

Hadjar and Liam Lawson do have an extra motivation to score points for Racing Bulls in the remaining four weekends, however, with the seat alongside Max Verstappen at the main Red Bull team potentially up for grabs for next season due to the poor form of Yuki Tsunoda.

Those two will need to put in some stunning performances if Racing Bulls have any chance of catching Williams for a top-five finish.

Aston Martin - 69 points

With Aston Martin hoping to be challenging for championships in the coming years, you'd think that they won't really care about whether they finish seventh or ninth this year.

But the fact is, with the amount of money on offer for each constructors' championship position, a sixth-place finish in this year's standings could really help Aston Martin's 2026 and 2027 ambitions.

They've already got a design legend in Adrian Newey working on the 2026 car, and a two-time world champion in Fernando Alonso to drive it, but some extra cash to spend on upgrading facilities or pinching more staff from the 'big four' teams would surely go down a treat for them.

And Alonso's resurgence in the second half of the season means that they very much could grab that sixth spot, and maybe even challenge for fifth.

Haas - 62 points

Interestingly, Haas are still going all out in 2025, continuing to develop their car.

While most of their rivals have completely stopped developing their 2025 car in order to focus entirely on 2026, Haas are taking a different approach, with team principal Ayao Komatsu revealing that neither Esteban Ocon nor Ollie Bearman will test the 2026 design in the simulator until after the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP.

Indeed, for the United States GP, Haas brought a raft of updates, and it appears to be paying off.

While only scoring two points in Austin, they had their joint-best result of the season in Mexico, scoring 14 points.

Bearman even managed to match the outfit's best ever grand prix result of fourth, which was also previously achieved by Romain Grosjean at the 2018 Austrian GP.

They are the team to watch over the four remaining weekends, and they could easily surpass their rivals ahead of them if this great form continues at the upcoming Brazilian GP.

Sauber - 60 points

Another team who have been bolstered by an unlikely podium.

Nico Hulkenberg managed to beat Lewis Hamilton to claim a podium at the British GP, but since then, it has been team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto's time to shine.

Rookie Bortoleto has scored 15 of his 19 points across the season in the last eight race weekends since the British GP, and that has really helped Sauber to throw themselves into the mix for a sixth-place finish.

With the team set to become Audi in 2026, an injection of cash by finishing sixth would be a lovely welcome present for their new owners.

Alpine - 20 points

Although last by a large margin, I have thrown Alpine in here because they are proof that anything can happen at any given race at the back end of the season.

A double podium for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly at the 2024 Brazilian GP handed the team 33 points, and enabled them to finish sixth in the constructors' championship that year when they had spent the majority of the season in ninth.

Not even a repeat result this year would see them usurp Sauber ahead, but it would certainly throw them right back into the mix.

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