Verstappen added further title glory to his glowing F1 CV in 2024, securing his fourth World Championship in a row, but he did so without the luxury of the dominance enjoyed over the previous couple of seasons.
Verstappen won five of the opening seven grands prix in 2024, but the rise of McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes to demonstrate race-winning pace ended the dominant ways of Verstappen and Red Bull, with just two wins claimed in the 14 rounds to bring the season to its end.
Nonetheless, Verstappen held firm to secure a fourth title on the trot, his iconic drive to victory in Brazil effectively sealing the deal, with Verstappen making his four-time World Champion status official at the following round in Las Vegas.
But, with that Verstappen “breathing space” taken out of the equation, Brundle reckons an even more thrilling season of action may be coming our way in F1 2025.
“I think 2025 could be an all-time classic Formula 1 season,” Brundle predicted in a Reddit ‘ask me anything’ session with the Sky F1 pundit.
“The cars are converging, we’ve got some brilliant drivers on the grid, the teams have speed, they have amazing reliability, and it’s going to be oh so close.
“Max obviously started 2024 with a lot of victories that’s given him some breathing space.
“But we’ve had seven victories so far this season. It’s so close out front and the racing is good. And it’s what we want. It’s unpredictable and I see even more of the same in 2025!”
Having matched the achievement of Sebastian Vettel by claiming four consecutive titles with Red Bull, Verstappen will look to make it five in a row in F1 2025.
But, despite having established himself as F1’s top dog for the past four seasons, Verstappen does not regard he and Red Bull as title favourites for F1 2025.
While Verstappen secured the 2024 Drivers’ crown, Red Bull fell away from the Constructors’ Championship summit, falling to P3 as McLaren returned to P1 for the first time since 1998, while Ferrari finished runner-up.
“We won’t be the favourites, but that’s okay,” Verstappen told Servus TV.
“We still have to change a lot of things to be number one again. But that’s okay and maybe sometimes it’s good not to be the favourite at the start of the season.”
Verstappen has a new Red Bull team-mate for F1 2025, Liam Lawson having stepped up from Racing Bulls to replace Sergio Perez.
