Max Verstappen only retains a distant hope of winning a fifth world championship in 2025 but he did at least lead a non-McLaren one-two in the unofficial sprint championship.
Combining the results of the sprints in China, Miami, Belgium, Austin, Brazil and Qatar into their own standings - as F1 has mooted doing with the sprints at some point - once again marks Verstappen as F1’s superior Saturday race operator.
No driver scored points in all six sprints. Verstappen missed out in Miami where he picked up a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release, but two sprint wins and consistent scoring in the other three were enough to pip George Russell.
The Mercedes driver did not win a single sprint all year but nipped in ahead of McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by dint of being more consistent.
Norris and Piastri, who lead the way in the main championship, both had two poor sprint results. Norris was only eighth in Miami, and he was eliminated in the crash caused by Piastri in the Austin sprint. Piastri then shunted out of the penultimate sprint in Brazil, too.
Verstappen and Russell being two places higher in the unofficial sprint points than the real championship reflects the greater potential for randomness in the data from a significantly reduced sample set of results.
But it also shows what a good job both have done in general as their consistency in the sprints is in keeping with them having excellent seasons.
Behind the top four, there are a few notable differences to the main championship. Lewis Hamilton’s seemingly miserable first year with Ferrari is coming to a weak end, and the Qatar sprint was another low - but his China win, and a third in Miami, mean he has actually outscored Charles Leclerc in the sprints this year.
Yuki Tsunoda has the biggest swing versus his real position. He is eighth in the sprint standings compared to 17th in the championship (but equal on points with the two drivers ahead) - and Tsunoda has four points finishes in six sprints this year compared to just six points finishes in 20 grand prix starts so far for Red Bull.
The biggest faller versus their championship position is Isack Hadjar. Racing Bulls has an awful sprint record this year, with Hadjar - ninth in the drivers’ championship - scoring the team’s only Saturday point.
Standings (position versus real championship position)
1 Max Verstappen (+2) 32
2 George Russell (+2) 30
3 Lando Norris (-2) 29
4 Oscar Piastri (-2) 29
5 Lewis Hamilton (+1) 21
6 Charles Leclerc (-1) 17
7 Kimi Antonelli (=) 15
8 Yuki Tsunoda (+9) 12
9 Carlos Sainz (+2) 10
10 Fernando Alonso (+3) 5
11 Lance Stroll (+5) 4
12 Esteban Ocon (+3) 4
13 Alex Albon (-5) 3
14 Ollie Bearman (-2) 2
15 Pierre Gasly (+3) 2
16 Isack Hadjar (-7) 1
