Breaking Down the 2025 Supercars Grand Final: Format, Races & Championship Stakes

This year’s Supercars race weekend in Adelaide will run a little differently than every other held – and the changes will spice up the on-track action like never before.

 

Now called the bp Adelaide Grand Final, it features an extra race day and a guaranteed four-way fight for the 2025 Supercars championship trophy in addition to the usual tough battle to victory at the world-renowned street circuit.

 

While the championship-deciding event will still be held over its usual four days – from November 27 to November 30 – there will be three Supercars races this year, held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, instead of the traditional two weekend races.

 

The excitement and intensity will build across each race, as the drivers vying for the championship seek to accrue as many points as they can each race to clinch the 2025 title.

 

A good result on Friday will be crucial for every championship contender to kickstart their chances with a decent points haul before the gruelling race on Saturday.

 

Even then, they will need to back up their good form on Saturday to ensure no contender has an unassailable lead in the points by the end of Saturday’s race.

 

But even the tiniest loss of concentration or car-part failure at any time over the weekend may see any driver’s hopes come to a crashing end.

 

The street circuit’s kerbs, concrete-lined walls and notoriously difficult corners such as Turn 8 can serve drivers a severe punishment by wrecking their race cars after just a moment’s mistake.

 

ADELAIDE IS SUPERCARS’ GRAND FINAL

 

This year, the Adelaide event is Supercars’ Grand Final, where the 2025 champion will be determined as well as crowned.

 

In previous seasons, the Supercars champion has been the driver who accrued the most points across the whole season. So in 2022, for example, Shane van Gisbergen had more than enough points before the Adelaide races even started and everyone knew he had won the championship, taking some of the mystery out of the last weekend of racing.

 

This year, the championship format has changed, with a Finals series now held for the top drivers across the last three events of the year.

 

As Adelaide is the last event on the Supercars calendar, it will serve as its Grand Final.

 

The Adelaide Parklands street circuit is revered in the motorsport world as setting a new standard for street courses, not only for Australia, but for the world.

 

It is only slightly modified from its first design for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in the 1980s.

 

Drivers love it because of the challenge it presents, with the mix of three long straights, eight tight corners and six sweeping turns that appear simple but have punishing results if the slightest mistakes are made.

 

The concrete barriers that line the circuit have been just as likely to end the races of the most experienced drivers as they have the novices.

 

All that means Adelaide is the ultimate test for Supercars drivers and is the perfect location for the championship-deciding event.

 

But the Adelaide street circuit also is widely known for its spectacular atmosphere, created by more than 260,000 race fans who attend over four days each year.

 

The excitement in the air fuels the drivers even more to be the one standing with the winners’ trophies at the end of the race.

 

The number of drivers eligible to win the Grand Final will be whittled down during the tail end of Supercars’ season, leaving four drivers in contention to take the championship title at Adelaide.

 

The other 20 drivers who make up the Supercars grid will still be racing, vying for the honour of winning an Adelaide race and finishing their season on a high.

 

Exactly who the 2025 champion will be will not be known when the Grand Final event gets underway, creating even more edge-of-your-seat excitement for fans than usual.

 

The champion will be decided on a points allocation, based on their three Adelaide race results.

 

THREE DAYS OF RACING

 

For the first time in event history, Supercars race at the Adelaide Street Circuit on three days – Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

The first race at 4.20pm on Friday is 100km, or 31 laps – the shortest Supercars race to ever be held on the famous racetrack.

 

With such a short period to gain as many positions as possible and win the race, it will lead to drivers racing extra hard, which will be something fans will not want to miss.

 

While three races have made up the Adelaide 500 format in some previous years, when two sprint races were held on the Saturday and a longer race on Sunday in the mid-2010s, it is the first time Supercars will race for round and championship points on the Friday of the event.

 

Then for the rest of the weekend, the style of racing returns to what has traditionally occurred, with a 250km race (78 laps) held on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

 

In total, Supercars drivers will complete 600km across three races instead of the historical 500km of racing.

 

The Adelaide event is already physically gruelling for drivers, as in-car temperatures can be hotter than 65C and the concrete walls that line the circuit leave little margins for error.

 

So, when an extra day’s racing is thrown in, drivers will have to really be at the top of their game to be in winning contention.

 

Both Red Bull Ampol Racing Team drivers Broc Feeney and Will Brown are previous Adelaide title winners, while the team itself is no stranger to wins, both in championships and in Adelaide.

 

But Chaz Mostert, from Mobil1 Optus Racing, and Cam Waters, from Monster Castrol Racing, who have won Saturday races in Adelaide previously, crave a championship to add to their awards list.

 

Penrite Racing’s Matthew Payne and Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Brodie Kostecki also started season 2025 well and know what it takes to win big races.

 

In fact, there’s no one in the top 10 who you would easily discount from having a good chance of not just surviving but thriving at the bp Adelaide Grand Final.

 

HOW THE POINTS SYSTEM WORKS AT ADELAIDE

 

The four champion contenders will start the weekend with 5050 points, 5030 points, 5015 points and 5000 points, depending on their results to the end of the previous round at Sandown.

 

All the other Supercars drivers will start the weekend with less than 4500 points, so even if one of the others clean sweeps the Adelaide races, they cannot win the championship.

 

At the end of each race, points will be allocated to all drivers based on their race result – not just to the drivers in finals contention. So, if a championship contender finishes 5^th, he will receive the number of points awarded for 5^th place, and even if the other contenders finish after him.

 

A maximum of 50 points will be awarded to whoever the Friday race winner is, and on Saturday and Sunday, a maximum of 125 points will be available on each day.

 

The champion contender who finishes the Sunday race with the most points accrued across the three races will be awarded the 2025 Supercars title.

 

It is unlikely that the championship will be sown up after the Saturday race, as three of the four contenders will have to have horror Friday and Saturday results – such as failing to finish races or limping past the chequered flag in last place – for the points tally of the leader to be too much to surpass.

 

But anything can happen in motorsport. And at the Adelaide street circuit, nothing is impossible.

 

THE DRIVERS WHO CAN WIN

 

There may be two drivers taking home titles at the end of the Adelaide race weekend, with more than the championship trophy up for grabs.

 

All 24 Supercars drivers will be eligible to win each of Adelaide’s three races – and being the last round of the year, it’s the last chance for every driver and team to clinch at least one of these trophies.

 

So, fans are guaranteed they will be doing their utmost on and off the track to leave Adelaide with at least one trophy in their bag.

 

As has occurred at past events, the winner of the Sunday race will also receive the glory of winning the Adelaide street circuit title.

 

The last trophy to be won will be the championship trophy, only available to one of the four drivers who will be competing for that title.

 

The driver of this group who secures the most points across the three Adelaide races – regardless of whether any of them wins a race or not – will be crowned the 2025 Supercars champion and secure the ultimate trophy.

 

Make sure you have your ticket for the new era of the bp Adelaide Grand Final, 27 – 30 November 2025.  Buy now at Ticketmaster