F1 2025 Standings: McLaren set for title decider in Azerbaijan after being beaten by Verstappen

Despite being beaten by Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren have a chance to wrap up the F1 championship in two weeks at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The papaya team are a massive 337 points ahead of second-placed Ferrari, and need to beat the Scuderia by just nine points in Baku to confirm their win in the constructors' title with seven races to spare.

They opened up their advantage over Ferrari even further despite a race where Lewis Hamilton surged through the field, with an earlier penalty leading to a net loss in the championship standings.

Hamilton managed to finish sixth, less than 12 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, despite starting all the way down in 10th due to a grid drop post-qualifying.

A five-place grid penalty was carried over from the Dutch GP the week before, where Hamilton failed to slow down sufficiently under yellow flags.

The result also means that he has lost yet more ground in the drivers' championship compared to Leclerc, with Hamilton now a whopping 46 points behind the Monegasque driver down in sixth in the standings.

Elsewhere, the thrilling championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri got that little bit closer, with Norris cutting Piastri's lead down to 31 points after a double podium for the pair.

Max Verstappen may himself still harbour ambitions that he can get back into the championship race, with his third race victory of the season seeing him close the gap to Piastri down to 94 points.

F1 RESULTS: McLaren thrashed as Max Verstappen dominates at Monza

F1 Drivers' Standings after 2025 Italian Grand Prix

F1 Constructors' Standings after 2025 Italian Grand Prix

2025 rule change removes fastest lap point

The fastest lap point has been removed for the 2025 season. Since 2019, drivers have picked up an extra point if they finish in the top 10 and achieve the fastest lap.

However, in the past, this led to some drivers abandoning their races to pit and fit a new set of tyres in the final stages of the race in order to claim the fastest lap point or prevent a rival from getting the extra point, playing the tactical long game in the championship standings.

The most famous example of this last season came during Daniel Ricciardo's final F1 race, when the Australian finished last but claimed the fastest lap on the final lap of the Singapore GP, taking the extra point away from Norris and helping Verstappen's 2024 title bid.

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