Max Verstappen will have a target on his back during the 2025 season, having won the title for the last four years in a row.
The field in 2025 is expected to converge massively now F1 is coming to the end of the current regulation cycle, as was seen with McLaren and Ferrari in 2024.
Verstappen went through a 10-race win drought between the Spanish and Qatar Grands Prix, although he still managed to win at least nine races in what can be considered a difficult season for Red Bull.
Red Bull’s nearest challengers are expected to be McLaren, with Lando Norris tipped by Martin Brundle as being the favourite for the title after his Abu Dhabi GP performance.
Discussing who is in contention on the RacingNews365 podcast, legendary Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen believes there is one outsider to the title that Verstappen should be wary about.
Tom Kristensen picks Charles Leclerc as 2025 title outsider
There is a lot of anticipation over Ferrari in 2025 given Lewis Hamilton has joined the team and is attempting to win an eighth world title.
He is expected to have stiff competition against teammate Charles Leclerc, who has been part of the Ferrari driver programme since racing in junior formulas.
Kristensen expects Leclerc will be an outsider for the title, now that Verstappen and Norris will be the two main contenders likely to be battling for the win.
“They want to win more championships [in F1], in terms of Max. Charles is very much hungry and, for some, he can be an outsider in the championship this year,” said Kristensen.
Is Charles Leclerc more likely to win at Ferrari than Lewis Hamilton?
Leclerc’s tenure at Ferrari and his status as their ‘golden boy’ suggests that Hamilton will have a difficult time at the team, given the former also speaks Italian fluently and understands their culture.
Hamilton has only ever been with British teams throughout his career, however, in the month that he has spent with the team so far he has clearly been adapting to their way of life.
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Hamilton’s first social media post about Ferrari broke a record held by Leclerc, while thousands of fans flocked to see him in one of their cars for the first time at Fiorano in January.
At a recent Pirelli tyre test, Hamilton’s lap times were slightly faster than Leclerc’s although it is difficult to judge when they were using development tyres.
