The Dutchman has dominated for large spells over the last four years and no one has been able to stop him and Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris have run Verstappen the closest, but he has just about managed to hold on and is the only driver to have won a Drivers’ Championship in the current technical regulations.
2025 is the final year before the Formula 1 rules change again and the field is possibly reset for the foreseeable future.
Nico Rosberg says he would understand if Verstappen retired after the expiration of his current contract, given that he has achieved so much at such a young age.
Red Bull won’t be allowed to test their 2026 engine this year which means that they will start from square one next year.
There could be teething problems now that they’re powering themselves and Verstappen may not want to hang around to experience them.
A big factor in Verstappen’s success is his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who he has shared a close bond with since they started working together in 2016.
Lambiase has experience at various teams, starting his career out with Jordan, and remaining with them through their Force India days until he joined Red Bull in 2015.
His ability to calm the 27-year-old down and work with him to achieve results has been so valuable to Red Bull over the last few seasons.
It’s part of the reason why ex-Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley wants him to step away from the sport and go and work for him.
“I love Gianpierro, he’s such a great guy. I’m constantly telling him his time is up in Formula 1,” he told the Red Flags Podcast.
“He’s had his world championships now, stop being greedy and come and work for me. Might happen one day, it might not, you heard it here first. He’s very much an engineer like I was.”
Lambiase and Verstappen didn’t speak after the Hungarian Grand Prix following a tough race which saw the Dutchman finish fifth.
Four days later they had got over their qualms and they managed to go on and clinch the championship with two races to spare.
Christian Horner kept Lambiase from moving to McLaren which shows that he isn’t against a move away from his current team.
They won’t keep winning forever, so it will be interesting to see where their partnership goes when they fall on tougher times.
It’ll be up to team boss Horner to keep the team together so that they can continue to compete at the front for many years to come.
