F1 title deciders: History of Drivers' Championship going down to last race ahead of 2025 Abu Dhabi GP

2 December 2025, 10:14 | Updated: 2 December 2025, 12:29

The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will represent the 32nd time in Formula 1’s 75-year history that the battle for the Drivers’ Championship has gone down to the final race of the season.

While some of the most memorable races that have settled championships have taken place before the final round of the year - the most famous being Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost's Suzuka collisions of 1989 and 1990, both of which were at the penultimate stage of the season - there's always something just a little extra special about a win-or-bust showdown at the final race.

So here, in chronological order, we recall some of the most famous down-to-the-wire deciders…

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