Thanks to back-to-back victories in Monza and Baku, Max Verstappen has significantly reduced his deficit at the top of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship standings.
With seven races (and three Sprint events) remaining in the season, even McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes that the Dutch driver must be considered a serious contender for the title. However, the true answer will come at the Singapore Grand Prix.
An inconsistent Red Bull
The 2025 season has been Red Bull’s most challenging since the start of the ground effect era in 2022. The RB21 has shown intermittent performance: dominant on certain tracks—such as Monza, Baku, and even Imola—while struggling significantly on others, most notably the Hungaroring.
Yet, since the end of the summer break, the Milton Keynes team appears to have found greater consistency and improved performance, thanks in large part to an update to the car’s floor.
The influence of new team principal Laurent Mekies has been evident. Even Yuki Tsunoda managed his best result of the season with a sixth-place finish in Azerbaijan, demonstrating that the car itself has improved. However, this progress will need to be validated on a circuit with very different characteristics.
The Max factor alone isn’t enough
Verstappen has been outstanding throughout the year, aside from a few lapses, such as losing his composure against George Russell in Spain and a spin at Silverstone. However, to win this World Championship, even a generational talent—arguably one of the best ever in F1 history—requires strong technical support.
McLaren has been untouchable for long stretches of the season, only to “disappear” in Italy and Azerbaijan. This is a clear reminder of how quickly fortunes can change in Formula 1.
Singapore will be a crucial test, and its results will be highly indicative. If Verstappen can compete with a car at least on par with those of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, a comeback in the standings—from -69 and -44 points respectively—would certainly not be impossible.
Another strong performance from Red Bull would confirm that the RB21 has matured across all types of circuits, potentially allowing it to compete as a front-runner on every remaining track in the calendar. The Marina Bay street circuit, in fact, presents characteristics entirely different from Monza and Baku, with numerous corners and short straights.
Thus, the question “Can Max Verstappen really win the 2025 World Championship?” will likely be answered after the upcoming Singapore weekend.
One thing is already clear: according to Andrea Stella, McLaren is fully aware of the threat, and frankly, it would be naive not to be.
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