Max Verstappen only faced pressure from one driver in 2024 as he romped to a fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship.
Lando Norris and McLaren were behind from the very start and failed to put enough pressure on Red Bull to steal both of their titles.
They were able to get one of them though, as they clinched the Constructors’ Championship over Ferrari by 14 points, but Verstappen remained as elusive as ever.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
666 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
652 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
589 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
468 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
94 |
Oscar Piastri can’t handle a title fight like Norris according to Dutch analyst Tom Coronel, but the Australian driver is only just getting started.
Piastri’s Abu Dhabi clash with Verstappen showed that he has the ability to stand up to the Dutchman and not let him pass without a fight.
A fight is something that has been missing since 2021 when Lewis Hamilton ran the 27-year-old right down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Why Max Verstappen will ‘drive differently’ against Oscar Piastri in the future
Piastri refused to offer Verstappen lots of space in the 2024 season finale and it cost him, sending both spinning and seeing the Dutchman penalised to the tune of 10 seconds.
It was a reminder that he’s no pushover and even though he wasn’t in the picture much this year, he will be there in 2025 and he won’t be making life easy for him.
McLaren fixed a key Piastri issue this season which saw him struggle early on with an unstable car under traction.
With less to worry about and possessing the fastest car on the grid, there is no reason why he can’t make a run for the Drivers’ title.
READ MORE: Helmut Marko now shares what aspect of Oscar Piastri’s development he wants to copy at Red Bull
Speaking on ams.f1’s YouTube channel, Formula 1 journalist Michael Schmidt said that Verstappen will approach the 23-year-old differently from 2025 onwards.
“Only in his second year can he [Piastri] pose a threat to Verstappen,” he said. “He won’t take any nonsense and Verstappen will remember he’s not stupid.
“So, he will drive differently against him in the future because he knows he’ll keep it in.”
Will Max Verstappen be able to defend his F1 title in 2025?
After ending the year with the third-fastest car, Red Bull have a lot of work to do over the winter if they want to win both titles again.
It’s to say that they’ve regressed but more that their rivals down at McLaren and Ferrari have done an excellent job of catching up and surpassing them in car development.
With Lewis Hamilton joining the Scuderia in 2025 to partner Charles Leclerc, the assignment gets just a little bit harder for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
READ MORE: Sergio Perez will grimace when he reads what he said about Max Verstappen before Red Bull F1 debut
Mercedes may improve too and might have the next ‘Verstappen’ in their ranks as Andrea Kimi Antonelli debuts with them.
It sets 2025 up to be a thrilling championship in the final year of the current technical regulations, but whether Verstappen can achieve a fifth consecutive crown is all down to whether Red Bull can out-develop their rivals again.
Leave feedback about this