Max Verstappen didn’t throw in the towel. But he admitted this week that he would have called anyone who told him two months ago that he would now be in contention for the 2025 F1 title an “idiot”.
At the end of August, at the end of the Dutch GP, the Red Bull driver, third in the World Championship, had 104 points less than the leader, Australian Oscar Piastri, from McLaren. There were 205 points, against 309.
What seemed like a comfortable lead, however, was reduced by more than 60% over the next four races. Now, 40 points separate the current four-time champion (306) from Piastri (346). Among them is the British Lando Norris (332), also from McLaren.
“The chance is there,” said Verstappen. “I know we need to be perfect until the end to have a chance, so that’s what we need to focus on. Only attention to detail will make the difference.”
Max’s rise coincided with McLaren’s stumbles. While Red Bull came to life on the tracks with recent updates, such as the floor and front wing, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ cars stopped receiving modifications, with the team’s focus on developing the model for 2026, when F1 will have new regulations.
The double abandonment on the first lap of the sprint race in Austin, in the United States, weighed against the leader and vice-leader of the season. Verstappen had a perfect weekend: he won the sprint race, which earned him eight points; In the main race, he was on pole, triumphed and got 25 more.
The Dutchman’s performance led McLaren boss Andre Stella to recognize that Red Bull should be the dominant team in the final stretch of the championship, paving the way for what would be one of the biggest comebacks in F1 history.
Under the current scoring system, in place since 2010, which awards 25 points for victory, the most significant reaction occurred in 2012, when Sebastian Vettel overtook Fernando Alonso to win the third of his four titles. With seven races left in that edition, the Red Bull driver was 39 points behind his Ferrari rival. With four consecutive victories, he closed the gap and then won the World Cup by just three points.
While his four consecutive titles might suggest that Vettel had a dominant and unrivaled period in his F1 heyday, he also staged an unlikely comeback in 2010 when he became champion for the first time.
At the time, he was 25 points behind Alonso with two stages to go, but he won both, overtook the Spaniard — and his Red Bull teammate, Australian Mark Webber — and celebrated.
Kimi Raikkonen’s only title, in 2007, before the current system was implemented, is often cited as the most famous comeback of this century. Like this year, McLaren dominated the competition, with rookie Lewis Hamilton challenging the already experienced Fernando Alonso.
With two races left of the season, at a time when the winner took 10 points, the Finn was 17 behind Hamilton. But, with victories in China and Brazil, added to two disastrous races for McLaren cars, the Ferrari driver managed to win the championship with just one point ahead of the Englishman and the Spaniard.
Now, Verstappen, starting with the Mexican GP this Sunday (26), has five stages to try to turn things around — F1 will then pass through Brazil, the United States, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In Brazil and Qatar there will be the sprint race, introduced into the championship in 2021, which offers drivers the opportunity to also score points on Saturday.
This Saturday (25), without a sprint, Verstappen took fifth place on the grid, behind Norris, Charles Leclerc, Hamilton and George Russell. Piastri starts seventh after being punished for Carlos Sainz, and Gabriel Bortoleto, in 16th. The start is scheduled for 5pm (Brasília time) this Sunday, broadcast by Band.
