Verstappen set for Hamilton fight as F1 2025 title battle intensifies

As F1 fans gear themselves up for another exhilarating season of action, the talk of potential champions is very different than it has been in recent years.

Max Verstappen won his fourth drivers’ championship title in a row in 2024 to cement his place in the history books.

READ MORE: F1 2025 Driver Lineup: Big names on the move as full grid complete

But the final points table looked very different from just a year earlier when the Dutchman won an incredible 19 of the 22 grands prix.

Verstappen started the 2024 season in his usual dominant way, winning four of the first five. But things changed well before the middle of the season, with the eventual champion regularly being beaten to the finish line.

With a number of changes to look forward to in 2025, anyone considering placing F1 bets will need to look at all the options rather than just simply going for Verstappen again.

Max Verstappen can already be considered a legend of the sport after his performances in the last few years. But he is now in an unfamiliar position of not being the out-and-out favourite to win the championship.

This year’s competition looks set to be the closest in years – but can Verstappen prove many of the pundits wrong and win a fifth consecutive title?

Lando Norris Time

This British driver only won his first-ever grand prix last season but many F1 experts are predicting that he could go all the way and win the drivers’ championship in 2025.

Norris eventually won four races and finished second to Verstappen in the overall rankings but has certainly woken the sport up in his short time as an elite driver.

The fact that Norris drives with McLaren is just another intriguing aspect of his rise in stature within F1. One of the most famous teams in the sport’s history, there are many traditionalists who would love to see greater competition after years of Red Bull domination.

Norris certainly has the talent to become champion and will be pushing Verstappen from the very start in 2025 to make that dream become a reality.

Hamilton at Ferrari

Looking away from the drivers’ championship for a moment, the arrival of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari has F1 fans even more excited about the increased competitiveness possible this year.

Hamilton is the most successful driver in the history of F1 and will now team up with Charles Leclerc in an attempt to topple Verstappen.

Ferrari missed out on the glory of taking down Red Bull in the constructors’ championship last year, as McLaren came through to claim the title, but will be confident of pushing for glory itself in 2025.

Hamilton will be going for personal success as well, of course, and his contests against Leclerc – let alone with Verstappen – will be eagerly anticipated.

Hamilton won the last of his seven titles in 2020 before Verstappen took over and looked at one point to have given up the chance to overcome Michael Schumacher at the top of the rankings.

His move to Ferrari seems to have reignited a hunger for that accolade and he should be able to challenge Verstappen this year.

Keeping Up With the Others

One of Verstappen’s biggest challenges this year will be fending off the competition as he attempts to win five in a row. For much of his dominant era, he has enjoyed winning races without too much trouble. It almost became routine for fans to be more interested in who would finish second, as his triumph was so predictable.

The second half of last season, in particular, changed all of that and now there will be real concern at Red Bull about whether it can regain its place at the top of the sport.

There will undoubtedly be more competition in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships this year and Red Bull cannot afford to start off slowly – as it may not be able to ever catch up.

Red Bull Against the World

If there is one aspect of Red Bull’s current position that can actually help it in 2025, it is that this is a team that has always revealed in its outsider status.

Not as storied as some of the other teams, Red Bull has felt to have a target on its back for years and actively seems to enjoy its 'us-against-the-world' status.

It will be interesting to see how much of that identity is still in place after the upheaval in the team over the last few years. Even Verstappen has spoken out against some of the changes and it is questionable whether the same team spirit that won it championships in 2022 and 2023 is still there.

Were the performances in the second half of last season just a harbinger of what is to come?

Don’t Write off Verstappen Quite Yet

There is no doubt that Max Verstappen is an exceptionable F1 driver. The Red Bull team is not going to disappear from the podiums this year. But is also true that the 2025 season should provide more winners across the board – and that means that Verstappen will not enjoy such dominance again.

That also doesn’t necessarily mean that Verstappen should not be considered as a potential champion this year, however.

With pressure on the new pairings across F1 – and some of the new, young drivers tipped for the top – Verstappen is one of the few who knows how to win a championship.

He may not end up winning an incredible five in a row but it is a little early to rule out the flying Dutchman entirely.

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