F1 fans make overwhelming Lando Norris Qatar title prediction

An overwhelming majority of F1 fans believe Lando Norris will not be crowned world champion at this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.

For the first time, Norris has the chance to de-throne Max Verstappen at the Lusail Circuit, but his challenge has been made harder by his disqualification from second place at the Las Vegas GP. 

After finishing runner-up to the Red Bull in Sin City, Norris was 42 points ahead of the Dutchman, having lost seven points. 

However, after the DSQ, Verstappen took the full 25 points out of Norris, meaning the reigning champion is now just 24 points the championship leader, with 390 points playing 366. In a further twist, Oscar Piastri's DSQ for the same offence means he is tied with Verstappen on 366.

Heading to Qatar, Norris cannot win the title in the Sprint race as he must be 50 or more points clear following the Saturday race, but can only achieve a maximum of 32.

But, to be crowned Britain's 11th champion and the first for McLaren since Lewis Hamilton in 2008, Norris must simply out-score Piastri and Verstappen by two or more points - to hold a lead of at least 25 heading to the Abu Dhabi finale. 

Simply put, if Norris wins the Qatar Grand Prix, he will be world champion - but an overwhelming majority of F1 fans do not believe this is going to happen.

According to the results of a poll run by RacingNews365 following the double DSQ for McLaren, a total of 71.98% of voters believe F1 is set for its first final race title showdown since 2021.

This number is then further split by 35.59% of voters believing the first three-way finale since the four of 2010 is on the cards, with 34.69% of voters expecting Piastri to fall out of contention and set up a Norris-Verstappen showdown. 

Just over a quarter of voters - 28.02% - believe Norris will leave Qatar as the world champion.