MPH: What body language revealed about F1 2025's title contenders

Fascinating watching the body language and listening to the comments of the three title contenders as they were brought together for the pre-weekend press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi showdown between them.

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are such disparate personalities and in three quite different situations. They’ve been brought together by sheer competitive force and the ebbs and flows of a dynamically complex season.

They sit there, Verstappen on the left, Norris centre, Piastri right. Max is legs stretched out, leant back. Piastri too, but less prone. Lando is more upright but face down, hiding behind the peak of his cap as they wait for the questions.

Strip away the enormity of the occasion and just looking at the tasks ahead of each of them, it could hardly be simpler for Norris. Twelve points ahead of Verstappen, 16 in front of Piastri, he’s arriving at one of his best tracks and in what’s probably going to be the fastest car. Forget the maths, or the conservative approach; just set pole, win the start and disappear into the night, leaving all the potential shenanigans far behind. Couldn’t be simpler — and perfectly achievable.

Far easier said than done, of course. He’s never been in this position before and it’s a big deal. “I’ve spent the last 16 years of my life trying to get to this point,” he says. “It’s the result of a lot of hard work.”

As he talks and between his answers, he’s fidgety, cannot sit still. He’s like a hyperactive puppy. As always, he’s extremely open and forthright; there’s none of the shielding used by most sportsmen when discussing their own performances. He goes there, almost without being asked. “If I go back to Canada, probably being the most like ‘just put my hands up in the air — I messed up’. It cost me a good amount of points. Yeah. China, qualifying, one or two things where I didn’t do a good enough job,” he says in answer to how he looks back on the season.

It’s his natural way and is often perceived as negative, but it’s just how he rolls, the way he most naturally approaches maximising his own performance as a sportsman — to be searingly honest about what he needs to improve. It’s at odds with the potentially lovely clean task he could have ahead of him, but we cannot be anyone other than ourselves and that’s how he’s dealing with the situation — trying to make it the same routine as every other race weekend.

Verstappen has been here many times before, of course, is a very seasoned world champion and it’s a way less stressful situation he’s in now compared to his previous highly-charged title showdown here in ’21. He’s playing that card perfectly, but it’s probably genuine too. “Everything since then has been a bonus,” he says, something which he’s repeated many times. What did he do between Qatar and here? “Spent some time with my daughter, figured some stuff out for GT3 for next year, figured out some stuff for my sim team as well, planning for next year.” Almost ostentatiously playing down the significance of what he could be on the verge of attaining, for it would be a remarkable title if he achieved it.

“I’m just enjoying being here. But for me, it’s not even about being here. I’ve been enjoying the second half of the season, working with the team, how we’ve been able to turn it around from difficult times and really having a debrief after the race, being very disappointed and frustrated with the performances to just enjoying, smiling. Having these wins again is fantastic. So, I just take it — everything here is just a bonus, sitting here fighting for the title. So that’s also what makes it very straightforward for me. We will just try to have a good weekend. But then even then, it’s not really in my control, you know?”