Max Verstappen heads into the 2025 Formula 1 season with a target on his back after winning four titles in a row.
It is the end of the current regulation cycle and a lot of teams sense an opportunity, given most will be focusing their development on their 2026 machines.
Red Bull enters the season on the backfoot after Max Verstappen was ‘frustrated’ during pre-season testing, even deliberately ruining a set of tyres at one stage because of the handling of the RB21.
Verstappen was seen shaking his head after one lap on the third day in Bahrain, as the RB21 struggled to generate any turn-in or the frontend ‘bite’ that is normally synonymous with their cars.
McLaren’s car was much smoother and looked effortless for Lando Norris, who looked blisteringly quick on the second day during race runs.
Red Bull faces a challenge to beat McLaren, but Martin Brundle thinks Verstappen has one advantage over his rivals when writing in his column for Sky Sports.
Martin Brundle thinks McLaren drivers will take points off each other
George Russell thinks McLaren is the only team Mercedes are ‘not capable’ of beating in the early stages of 2025, with the Woking-based squad expected to continue their title-winning form from last year.
Both Norris and Oscar Piastri are formidable drivers, with the latter having won convincingly in two races last year. Brundle expects one factor to play into the hands of Verstappen, which might help him later on in the season.
“Max Verstappen starts as the favourite in my book. He knows what to do. He’s just so fast, he’s so good whatever is happening out on track. He’s confident, he’s got all the tools you need in terms of speed, racecraft, race starts, strategy, and the ability to look after the tyres when he needs to,” wrote Brundle.
“He’s also got an advantage for the Drivers’ Championship because I think the two McLaren boys will take points off each other, and the two Ferrari drivers too. That’s not a slight on Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, I think he’s got the head to have a chance to keep Max in view despite having the worst job in motorsport, but it’s quite clear who’s going to be the frontrunner this year at Red Bull.
“The experience of winning one championship, let alone multiple championships, is something that Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and George Russell don’t yet possess. They haven’t been in that intense spotlight in the final few races of a season, and we don’t know how they’ll cope.”
McLaren will use team orders if necessary between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris
To prevent Piastri from taking off valuable points from Norris in his title battle with Verstappen last season, McLaren did employ team orders between their drivers in the final races.
It happened after the Italian Grand Prix when Piastri nearly collided with Norris trying to snatch the lead off him, with the Briton forced to concede a place to Charles Leclerc who eventually won the race.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said it would be his ‘dream’ scenario if both drivers were taking points off each other, while Piastri wants any intra-team battle to be ‘respectful’ with Norris.
The last time F1 had two teammates battling was at Mercedes, when Nico Rosberg went up against Lewis Hamilton during Mercedes’ dominant era.
With McLaren’s form going into 2025, a similar scenario could play out and it will be up to the team to take appropriate action.
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