Sep.26 (GMM) Max Verstappen has suddenly emerged as a dark horse for a fifth consecutive world championship after back-to-back wins at Monza and Baku.
Just weeks ago, both Verstappen and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko had dismissed their title chances. But with Christian Horner gone, a new floor on the RB21, and McLaren’s lead drivers beginning to falter, the Dutchman has cut the gap to 69 points behind Oscar Piastri and 44 behind Lando Norris.
“I mean, we’ve already got the calculators out, haven’t we?” laughed former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos on the Pit Talk podcast. “This feels a bit like what Vettel did in 2013. This F1 season is unpredictable. After the summer break they installed a new floor, he won in Monza with the biggest margin of the season so far, then he went to Baku and won a Grand Slam.”
Doornbos said the breakthrough came from the new floor. “This year, about 65 percent of your downforce comes from the floor. It’s a very dominant factor,” he explained. “You can never relax in Formula 1, but you do know when you’ve found something. The foundation is there, and it seems they’ve found something.”
He also noticed a more relaxed Verstappen. “He laughs at the competition. That’s not arrogant – he’s only focused on himself,” Doornbos said.
Another ex-driver, Christian Danner, told Motorsport-Magazin.com he refuses to write Verstappen off. “No matter how bad things are at Red Bull, Verstappen is like a terrier. You can’t shake Max off that easily. It’s not in his nature to give up.”
Sky pundit Ralf Schumacher thinks Baku showed McLaren wobbling under pressure. “The McLaren simply didn’t have the grip window that Piastri is used to,” he said. “Small errors can occur that haven’t been noticed before because they usually drive around them. Baku was a turning point.”
And Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies made clear the team is still fighting on two fronts. “We’re not going to spare any effort in this 2025 campaign,” he said. “Little by little, the work that Max and Yuki have been doing with the entire team has paid off, and at least here and in Monza we’re back in the fight.”
“We’re fighting to learn more and more, because even though the 2026 regulations are completely different, there’s always a lot we can carry over from this season.”
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