The Dutchman narrowly missed out on a fifth consecutive title, a feat only achieved by Schumacher, but he still confirmed his status as an absolute phenomenon: his comeback from -104 to -2 behind Norris will go down in history

To keep alive a World Championship battle that seemed to have quickly reduced itself to a challenge between teammates, something, or someone, truly special was needed. And so, rising from a first half of the season dominated by internal friction within his team, Max Verstappen managed to reopen a 2025 that no longer seemed to be a matter for his magic. Instead, surprising even himself, the Dutchman returned to deliver impressive performances, led by a reunited team—under the direction of team principal Laurent Mekies, following the troubled departure of Christian Horner in July—and fired up by the possibility, albeit remote, of being able to challenge a McLaren that seemed so far ahead as to be unattainable. And while the papayas were solidly winning the Constructors’ title, with six races to go before the end of the championship, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri saw Max’s shadow looming ever closer, as he managed to reduce a 104-point gap – the deficit he had after the Dutch Grand Prix – to 12 points at the start of the Yas Marina weekend in Abu Dhabi, the penultimate race of the season. And then the title slipped away by just two points, a pittance considering the extra-long 24-race World Championship.
“But if I had had a McLaren, the title would have been wrapped up a long time ago,” said Verstappen, convinced that his rivals “kept the World Championship open because of too many mistakes.” The two drivers of Andrea Stella’s team, in perfect balance throughout the championship, shared the team’s points, and between mistakes on the track, internal decisions, and a few unexpected technical problems, such as the unpredictable double disqualification of the cars in Las Vegas, Max’s impossible dream became something he could still hope for. The specter of what could have been his fifth consecutive world title, a feat achieved only by Michael Schumacher in the history of Formula 1, began to loom large among the protagonists of this World Championship, shining a light on a comeback that captivated the entire motorsport audience. A comeback that, at the end of this season, proved unsuccessful for the lion Verstappen, defeated in Qatar by a McLaren that returned to dominate and by Lando Norris, mathematically world champion with one race to go before the end of the championship.

The future—  But the British driver’s success, deserved and earned on the track in a tough three-way battle, is not enough to erase the near-feat of the Dutchman from Red Bull, who, in the year of his defeat, demonstrated more than ever what he is capable of on the track, chasing with strength and determination a dream that others would have abandoned long before, and doing so with a mental freedom, a lightness free of all pressure, which gave us the best chapter of his journey in motorsport. Max, who will return to racing in 2026 with the number 33 and abandon the number 1 of the reigning world champions, will start the season aware that the new regulatory changes will dictate the future course of his career: “My contract expires in 2028, but everything will depend on the new rules,” admitted the Dutchman in Qatar, “and whether they are enjoyable and fun. If they are not fun, then I really don’t see the point in staying.” This statement reveals Verstappen’s consistency, which will also be evident on the track in 2025: racing, and doing it to the best of his ability, when it is worthwhile. Winning, having fun, giving it his all until the end. And you can’t come out of a World Championship defeated when you race like Max Verstappen does.