Every time it looks like Max Verstappen has hit his peak, he gets better again, says race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

And he imagines that must be an extremely intimidating prospect for rival drivers who, going into F1 2025, will look to stop the dominant Dutchman who extended his World Championship tally to four in a row this season.

Max Verstappen a ‘beast’ who keeps improving

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

After dominant runs to the 2022 and 2023 crowns, Verstappen faced sterner competition in F1 2024 with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all demonstrating race-winning pace, but it was McLaren’s Lando Norris who came closest to mounting a title challenge against Verstappen.

But, with an iconic win from P17 on the grid in Brazil, Verstappen effectively ended Norris’ title hopes there and then and duly sealed the deal at the following round in Las Vegas, as Verstappen secured his fourth World title in as many years with Red Bull.

And while the convergence of the grid seen in F1 2024 has sparked talk of a closer title fight to come next season, Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase warns that the Dutchman’s rivals will face a Verstappen who has levelled up in quality once again in 2025.

“I think this is the problem for the other drivers about Max. He is a beast that just keeps improving year on year,” Lambiase told Viaplay.

“Just when you think he’s reached his peak, he makes another step.

“And that must be frightening for everybody up and down the grid.”

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Red Bull will also find a new advantage comes their way next year, as due to slipping from the Constructors’ Championship summit to a P3 finish in 2024, it means they will get more windtunnel testing time than new Constructors’ champions McLaren and Ferrari.

Verstappen hopes this will boost his chances of staying in the title fight and claiming a fifth straight title.

Asked by the media, including PlanetF1.com, if he foresees Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all being in the F1 2025 title fight, Verstappen replied: “It’s difficult to say. It depends a lot on how you develop throughout the winter.

“Of course, I hope to be in that fight. But we have a lot of work to do, for sure. We know that.

“We have [more windtunnel time]. That is, I guess, a positive. We won the Drivers’, didn’t win the Constructors’, we gain a bit of windtunnel time. In a way, maybe that’s positive.”

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