The Dutchman has dominated for large spells of the current technical regulations, with Red Bull able to give him a car capable of staying at the front.
With the 2026 F1 regulations around the corner though, it may be all change for Verstappen with the grid expected to shuffle.
Now that his rivals have closed in, he faces the toughest battle he has faced for a drivers’ championship yet in 2025, with as many as three other teams in contention.
Red Bull ‘leaks’ hint Verstappen’s complaints have been ignored for 2025 after he struggled with car stability for large parts of last season.
After years of not quite having the car to compete, Verstappen has been warned of Leclerc as a 2025 title outsider at Ferrari who ended last season with a stronger car than the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Verstappen hasn’t always been the seamless operator that he is today. It took him a long time to hone his craft and prepare for the title battles of today.
After a string of incidents in 2018, Verstappen was criticised by Red Bull boss Christian Horner and he evolved as a driver from there.
Current colleague Calum Nicholas has revealed that his talent was evident from the first time he climbed into one of their cockpits at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
“With Max, it’s one of those things, like all of us from 2016 – that first race with the team, I think it was so obvious that there was this raw, untamed talent in Max that was going to be incredible,” he said.
“After that win, the rest of 2016, 2017 [there were] car failures and crashes and things like that. What has made Max so great now is that he has mastered all those other little things.
“His awareness of what else is going on in a race, his ability to control a race. I think he’s so formidable because he just does everything well.”
Amid some chaos at Red Bull last season surrounding Horner and the departure of Adrian Newey, there were rumours that Verstappen may opt to leave the team.
Many expected an earthquake F1 announcement from Verstappen before 2025, announcing that he would be joining Mercedes.
The move never materialised as he continued to focus his efforts on winning the championship, as he did by 63 points over Lando Norris.
Since then, Verstappen’s camp has responded to a reported Aston Martin offer in the off-season and could face even more speculation in the future.
The fact of the matter is that he holds a contract until the end of the 2028 season with Red Bull, and they aren’t likely to let go of their prized possession easily.
