At the beginning of this year’s campaign, it looked as if Max Verstappen and Red Bull would have no trouble retaining both of their titles.
Verstappen won seven of the first ten races of the campaign, although cracks were already starting to show at Red Bull.
Some of the struggles Sergio Perez was dealing with last year had reappeared and suddenly Lando Norris and McLaren were serious challengers.
The Brit won his first Grand Prix in Miami and it wasn’t long before he and teammate Oscar Piastri were regularly putting Verstappen under pressure at the front of the grid.
However, Verstappen proved why he’s a multiple world champion, by minimising the damage when he didn’t stand a chance of victory and delivering wins on the rare occasions they were available.
Verstappen’s masterful drive in Sao Paulo will never be forgotten, but wins at Imola, in Barcelona and Montreal were equally important.
David Coulthard was commentating on the race for Channel 4 and admitted he was a big fan of something Verstappen recently said about Norris.
The Dutchman doesn’t normally resort to mind games and on this occasion may have even been sincere about his rival turned rival.
After winning the title in Las Vegas, Verstappen took part in a wide-ranging interview about his latest championship win.
Verstappen claimed he invited Norris to become his teammate at one point, before admitting that he thinks it’s only a matter of time before the 25-year-old wins a title of his own.
Coulthard had Verstappen’s comments about wanting to race alongside Norris put to him and responded: “Well, certainly he is the key asset for Red Bull, so of course, they’re going to listen to him.
“And anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t understand how this business works!
“And it’s quite clever to say from Max in as much as Lando’s completely locked in at McLaren but it just shows his confidence, doesn’t it?
“Just coming to what you were saying about his openness, that’s actually how I see Max away from the race track and Lando as well.
“These guys are all hanging out with each other, living in a very small principality, it’s when they come into this environment, where they’re being analysed and questioned, that’s when some people come a bit more closed.
“So, in the reflection of a world championship, that interview, we got to see a little bit more of the real Max.”
Next season will be fascinating and McLaren will hope they can head into the campaign as reigning champions.
They told a 21-point lead over Ferrari going into the final race in Abu Dhabi after a disappointing ending to the Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris also has a personal battle with Charles Leclerc to concentrate on, having lost a significant number of points to the Monegasque driver at the Lusail International Circuit following his drive-through penalty.
Norris has been told by Jenson Button what he must do to challenge Verstappen next year, but there’s no quick fix when going up against one of the sport’s greatest drivers.
McLaren will hope to start the 2025 campaign with the same advantage Red Bull enjoyed at the start of next year to give Norris – or Piastri – a decent head start.
Verstappen has proved this year that he’ll still be seriously difficult to beat even if he doesn’t have an advantage over his rivals.
