SEARCH

    Select Website Language

    GDPR Compliance

    We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policies, and Terms of Service.

    What really cost Verstappen title beyond his biggest error

    1 day ago

    1

    0

    👍 ❤️ 😂 😮 😢 😡

    Max Verstappen put together one of Formula 1's greatest unsuccessful title bids and the significance of his only big error within it is inevitably a topic of debate, especially after Verstappen's surprising reaction to being asked about it when the season ended.Verstappen gave a surprisingly tense and revealing response when a journalist asked him at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix press conference if he regretted driving into George Russell in Spain earlier in the year, given he lost more points there than he ultimately finished behind Lando Norris in the world championship by.To snap so suddenly was unnecessary given Verstappen had said in a one-to-one interview with Viaplay, in Dutch, that it was his main mistake - so it was legitimate to ask him if he regretted it now, given the points loss, in the context of his title defeat.It showed Verstappen does not really want to discuss it further in such an open forum. He also clearly felt it was unnecessary to imply it was the cause of him losing the championship. This may not have been the intention of the question Verstappen was asked but it's how he interpreted it. And tying Verstappen not winning the championship to what happened in Spain is bound to be something a lot of people do.He was beaten by two points and did something earlier in the season that cost him eight or nine points. And as outrageous as it would be to expect a totally perfect year, even of Verstappen, it is true that most of his season was so good he could have been world champion without errors from himself and Red Bull.Distilling his title defeat down to that one, self-inflicted points loss does Verstappen's season a disservice, though, and is too one-dimensional a view and too lazy an appraisal in a year as storied and swingy as 2025.Spain was hardly the only time something happened to cost points that would theoretically have made the difference at the end. In Verstappen's control, the only thing that jumps out is his half-spin at the restart after a safety car at Silverstone, in the wet. This potentially cost a podium and he finished fifth instead, so that is arguably five points there.But what about being speared into by Kimi Antonelli in the Austrian Grand Prix? Or Red Bull's generally awful Hungarian Grand Prix weekend in which the team also managed to get jumped on strategy by midfielders, consigning Verstappen to ninth?As Verstappen said, the championship is made up of 24 races. There are far too many points swings either way to say 'this is the moment'. Which is also why, to mention him again, it is outrageous to see Antonelli being abused for the mistake late in the Qatar GP that promoted Norris from fifth to fourth and, supposedly, gifted him the two points that made him world champion instead of Verstappen.Those who take that view conveniently ignore the fact that in that case, with Verstappen set to steal the title in Abu Dhabi by winning with Norris third, McLaren would have simply ordered Piastri to sacrifice second - and as tough as that order would be to give, and for him to hear, he would have complied. So Antonelli's Qatar error changed nothing.And even the big, obvious Verstappen mistake with the red mist descending only becomes so obviously costly in hindsight. It didn't really seem like much at the time given Verstappen was already fading from view in the apparent two-horse McLaren race.In the end it turned out to be one of many developments through the year that if we could go back and watch again for the first time, while knowing Verstappen would have the late-season surge he had, becomes so much more significant.This goes to show you never really know what's going to be important or not by the end of the year. Every success and missed opportunity matters and trying to pinpoint single moments where titles like this are supposedly won or lost is a big oversimplification.And as Verstappen mentioned with the "early Christmas presents" he was given in the second half of the season, there were many mistakes made by the McLaren drivers and their team in the second half of the year. You can construct all manner of combinations of lost points on that side to explain why Piastri wasn't champion and why Norris nearly got beaten - far, far more than what Verstappen gave up.What really cost Verstappen the title is what he called the "massive rollercoaster" of Red Bull's year and his inconsistent machinery over the first 14 events meant he fell nearly 100 points off the championship lead (and 104 at its peak at Zandvoort). Before the summer break, Red Bull very rarely had a car faster than or equal to McLaren and would usually flit from second- to fourth-best - or sometimes even worse."The first half had some nice moments, but mainly tough moments," Verstappen said. "Some really tough races and feelings."It is astounding he ever came anywhere near winning the title after that. This speaks to the quality of the final third of his season and the progress Red Bull was able to make in getting its car to work at or near its best more often. It allowed Verstappen to amass a bigger win tally than either McLaren driver for the season - something that would have been unthinkable going into the summer break with 14 of the 24 rounds complete.After the break, Red Bull actually had a quicker car than McLaren more often. Further car upgrades and a more aggressive set-up approach brought big wins - at the cost of a couple of weekends with big setbacks, although Verstappen mitigated those brilliantly.He views this season as his best in F1 and maybe that is why, even if you can pick out one or two moments that could have been better, Verstappen insists he has "no regrets" about it."The performance has been strong," he said. "I've hated this car at times, but I've also loved it at times."And I always tried to extract the most from it, even in the difficult weekends that we've had. But it’s been a proper rollercoaster with the car."Luckily, the last, I would say, eight, nine rounds in general have been a lot more enjoyable."If how the Red Bull compared to the McLaren from the Dutch GP onwards had been the case all year, clearly Verstappen would have had more opportunities to win. Then the entire championship would look different and the season narrative would have changed, not just the final table.Would he have gone on to secure a serene title? Would he have risen to the level he did without being the rank outsider? Would several of the races in the run-in have played out the same if Verstappen was not bearing down on the McLarens in the points and the permutations were entirely different?Who knows. We had the season we had. Verstappen ended up with the points deficit he did. If you merely apply the theoretical points Verstappen would have had without his very, very few errors, if he had an absolutely perfect season, he could have been champion.But that goes doubly for the McLaren drivers. And no driver, no champion, has ever been perfect anyway.It is a very harsh standard to seriously hold him to and Verstappen has still come as close to meeting it in 2025 as anyone probably ever has.
    Click here to Read More
    • Share:
    'No more second chances' - Quartararo's biggest Yamaha threat yet
    Previous Article
    'No more second chances' - Quartararo's biggest Yamaha threat yet
    Next Article
    F1 renames key 2026 elements after confusion fears
    F1 renames key 2026 elements after confusion fears

    Related Formula 1 Updates:

    Comments (0)

      Leave a Comment

      Send