With 12 races down and 12 to go in the 2025 F1 season, Oscar Piastri finds himself leading the drivers' championship.
Victory in Bahrain took Piastri to a lead he has since held, becoming the first Australian since his manager Mark Webber in 2010 to head the drivers' standings.
With half of the season remaining, Piastri is just eight points clear of team-mate Lando Norris in the fight to become McLaren's first drivers' champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
History appears to be on Piastri's side as well. The current season is the 76th drivers' championship, and the driver leading at the halfway mark of the season has gone on to win the title 56 times in the previous 75 championships.
Remarkably, Hamilton jointly holds the record for 'leading the championship at halfway and not going on to win the title', doing so four times.
These came in his rookie 2007 season, and in 2010 and 2016. The most recent example of the feat happening was in 2021 when Max Verstappen won the drivers' crown.
Hamilton holds this record with Alain Prost, who could have been an eight-time champion had he converted his 1983, 1984, 1988, and 1990 halfway leads.
Jim Clark, Niki Lauda, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, and Sebastian Vettel are the other champions to fail to convert.
In 1997, Michael Schumacher was leading at the halfway point, but infamously became the only driver to be disqualified from a world championship after trying, and failing, to ram Jacques Villeneuve out of the title decider.
Check out the full table below!
Drivers who led the championship at halfway but didn't win the title
| Year | Driver | Eventual champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Peter Collins | Juan Manuel Fangio |
| 1958 | Stirling Moss | Mike Hawthorn |
| 1960 | Bruce McLaren | Jack Brabham |
| 1964 | Jim Clark | John Surtees |
| 1976 | Niki Lauda | James Hunt |
| 1981 | Carlos Reutemann | Nelson Piquet |
| 1982 | John Watson | Keke Rosberg |
| 1983 | Alain Prost | Nelson Piquet |
| 1984 | Alain Prost | Niki Lauda |
| 1985 | Michele Alboreto | Alain Prost |
| 1988 | Alain Prost | Ayrton Senna |
| 1990 | Alain Prost | Ayrton Senna |
| 1997 | Michael Schumacher | Jacques Villeneuve |
| 2007 | Lewis Hamilton | Kimi Raikkonen |
| 2010 | Lewis Hamilton | Sebastian Vettel |
| 2012 | Fernando Alonso | Sebastian Vettel |
| 2014 | Nico Rosberg | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2016 | Lewis Hamilton | Nico Rosberg |
| 2017 | Sebastian Vettel | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2021 | Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen |
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they are joined by special guest senior Audi F1 consultant, Allan McNish! The trio discuss Audi's preparations for 2026 and take a general look back on the first half of the current season.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Explore the latest F1 results and every stat you can imagine - From Max Verstappen to Michael Schumacher and from Ayrton Senna to Lewis Hamilton — explore every stat from the first Grand Prix to the latest race.
Explore the RN365 Stats HubMost read
In this article
Join the conversation!