Max Verstappen has once again shown that he is the best driver on the grid today and that he intends to fight for the F1 World Championship. In addition, he has the help of McLaren, which at the moment is on its way to repeating last year’s mistakes with Lando Norris and Alex Albon in favour of the New Zealander.
Verstappen goes for the world championship
Red Bull seemed ruled out of doing great things in this 2025 World Championship, and it seems that as a team they are going to have a hard time. They have only scored points with Verstappen so far this season and Mclaren, who has the best car, is pulling away. But they will be able to fight to give Verstappen his fifth world championship, thanks to the driver.
With his victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is now 61 points ahead of Lando Norris, the current leader. There can be no more pressure for the British driver, who sees how, having the best car on the grid, as happened last year, Verstappen is right on his heels.
McLaren, on track to repeat last year’s mistakes
McLaren made a big mistake last season by not prioritizing what the objectives were. They won the Constructors’ Championship because they were far superior, but they were not able to give Norris the stripes to fight for the Drivers’ Championship. This year they seem to be having the same problem with both drivers. Both are in a position to fight for the Drivers’ Championship, but during the Japanese Grand Prix, they could have fought Verstappen for the win.
They had second and third place assured, but Oscar Piastri seemed to have more pace than Norris to challenge Verstappen for the win. The Dutchman asked to pass Norris, but the team chose not to. It would have been easy, you let him through, he tries to catch the leader, and if he doesn’t make it, you let Norris overtake you again on the last lap. They had more than enough margin to do so, as Charles Leclerc, in fourth place, was a long way behind them and would not have been a danger. They didn’t do it and they are only giving Verstappen wings.
Verstappen is not going to fail
Max Verstappen is not going to fail, McLaren should know that by now. When he has a chance he’s going to take it, and that’s what he did today, against a team that has bet everything on his superiority for today’s race, and it didn’t work. For the moment Red Bull is not up to scratch, and yet he has already achieved three podiums so far this season. As soon as Red Bull manages to make a slight improvement, the fight for the World Championship will be wide open.
McLaren must decide who to bet on for the season, whether it’s Norris, who is a great driver but is showing that he lacks something to become a great, or to bet on a young Piastri who is hungry and who aims to be able to do great things in the future.
Lando Norris lacked ambition last year, the ambition of champions. In a Formula 1 where the teams have more power than ever, he needs to bang his fist on the table, which he has not yet done. That lack of leadership, of believing in himself, deprived him of fighting for the World Championship last season. “I don’t know what we’re fighting for,” he said last season when the doors were opening for him to fight for the World Championship.
McLaren already won the Constructors’ Championship last year and can do so again this year; they are the clear favorites to do so. But they must make a decision and start behaving like a big team. Otherwise, Red Bull will go fishing, Max Verstappen will be there, he will catch the prey, and it will be difficult for him to let go.