Max Verstappen has won the F1 drivers’ title in each of the past four seasons, but the Red Bull star faces his biggest challenge since 2021 in Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
The Dutchman has not met the sort of threat the McLaren teammates have so far posed this term since Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton by eight points for his first title. He beat Charles Leclerc by 146 points back in 2022, Sergio Perez by 290 in 2023 and Norris by 63 last year.
Verstappen even fell to his biggest championship deficit for 1,148 days when Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix, while the Red Bull driver finished in P10 following his 10-second penalty. He had not trailed by such a margin since Leclerc left the 2022 Australian GP 46 points clear.
His deficit could even grow to an insurmountable tally if the 27-year-old were to miss a race through suspension. Verstappen is one penalty point away from a race ban after drawing an additional three on top of his time penalty for driving into George Russell in Spain last week.
Max Verstappen’s Japanese GP pole lap reminded David Coulthard of Ayrton Senna
Verstappen has also had to drive around problems with Red Bull’s car to keep his title hopes alive in the 2025 F1 season. The RB21 proved to be a problematic package at the start, with Red Bull suffering from through-corner balance issues which enlarged McLaren’s advantage.
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| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
186 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
176 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
137 |
But how Verstappen overcame the RB21’s problems to score pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka reminded David Coulthard of Ayrton Senna. Christian Horner expected Norris or Piastri to score pole in Japan, yet Verstappen beat them by only 0.012s and 0.044s.
“Max is a machine,” Coulthard told Bild. “He has the complete package and the experience of four world championships. He makes things happen that you wouldn’t think possible.
“In Japan, he beat the McLarens even though they were the overwhelming favourites. That reminds me of my childhood when I watched Ayrton Senna or Nigel Mansell.
“Things happened that were unbelievable, simply amazing. Whenever that happened, I jumped up from the couch and screamed in the living room. That’s what Max does for me.”
Max Verstappen needs more Ayrton Senna-esque moments to deny Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris the 2025 F1 title
Verstappen was 0.256s slower than Piastri in Q1 and 0.356s slower than Norris in Q2 for the Japanese GP in April. Yet the Red Bull ace wrung the neck out of his RB21 to steal pole away from the McLaren gems, and utilised it to also deny Norris the win at Suzuka by only 1.423s.
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Red Bull had also stripped downforce from Verstappen’s car ahead of qualifying for the 2025 Japanese GP to improve his straight-line speed, which meant Norris and Piastri held an extra advantage during Suzuka’s Esses. But while the McLaren men made mistakes, he prevailed.
Yet Verstappen may need to produce more moments that remind Coulthard of Senna if he is to also deny Norris or Piastri their first F1 drivers’ championship title this term. Red Bull also need him to stop Verstappen’s habit of failing to finish on the podium in back-to-back races.
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