Verstappen hit with harsh F1 championship ruling ahead of 2025 season

Reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen has been hit with a harsh ruling ahead of the fast-approaching 2025 season.

The championship kicks off once again in just over a month at the Australian Grand Prix on March 16, with Verstappen and Red Bull hoping to hit the ground running after a dismal year in the team standings in 2024.

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The Dutchman heads into the new season with a new team-mate in Liam Lawson after Christian Horner and Helmut Marko opted to sack Sergio Perez following a consistent run of poor performances last year.

Perez finished the season with back-to-back DNFs and could only manage eighth place in the drivers' championship compared to Verstappen's fourth consecutive title victory.

Despite claiming another win with the team, Verstappen's 2024 campaign was his toughest yet as the Red Bull star faced consistent competition from Lando Norris and McLaren.

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Verstappen dominance dismissed

Whilst Norris may not have been able to catch Verstappen in the drivers' standings last season, he did secure four grand prix wins and put the pressure on for the first time since Verstappen began to dominate the sport after his maiden title win in 2021.

Last year there were in fact seven different drivers from four different teams to stand on the top step of the podium ahead of the four-time champion, proving that Red Bull's days of dominating the pack were clearly over.

In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, former F1 star and Red Bull athlete Gerhard Berger has discussed the 2024 season, touching on why he was glad to see Verstappen finally face some competition from his rivals.

"Actually, it was quite good because the dominance of one team was finally over.

"We've seen it often enough. Ferrari with Schumacher, Mercedes with Hamilton, Red Bull with Verstappen," Berger admitted.

"Everything revolved around one man, and that's exactly what the sport doesn't need. A situation like that is very pleasing for the respective team and driver, but as a spectator I want more variety, different teams and drivers who can win."

Touching on a major issue for the sport, the former Ferrari driver went on to mention how he had even been pushed away from the sport due to the dominance of one driver, admitting: "For many years I said that I prefer to watch MotoGP because I don't know who will win until the last corner. For a long time in Formula 1, I knew after the first corner. That changed last year.

"You had to watch the race until the end. If this continues to develop and an outsider wins under difficult conditions, then Formula 1 will be back where it should be."

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