The 2025 Formula 1 season is unfolding with dramatic and unexpected turns, especially following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Although McLaren and its two drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, still command the top of the standings, Max Verstappen’s consecutive victories and the bold declarations from the Red Bull Racing team have turned up the heat on the championship. The incredible confidence emanating from Red Bull, particularly after their Baku triumph, is raising a monumental question: Can Max Verstappen stage a miraculous comeback and re-enter the championship race?

Verstappen’s Resurgence: From Outsider to Formidable Contender

After the Baku race, Max Verstappen secured his second consecutive win, signaling a significant shift in momentum. While the points gap between Verstappen and Piastri remains substantial at 69 points, the Dutch driver has mathematically escaped the scenario where he needed at least one DNF from Piastri to get ahead. This, though just a starting point, has ignited hopes for a more intense competition. As the analysis points out, “although the difference between Verstappen and Piastri is still too big, 69 points as we speak, mathematically the Dutchman exited the scenario where he needs at least one DNF from Piastri in order to get ahead of him.”

Verstappen, a four-time world champion, faces a colossal challenge. To be crowned at the end of the season, he needs to outscore Piastri by 10 points and Norris by six points in every remaining race, including the sprint events. This scenario sounds “quite far-fetched,” but it is “definitely not impossible.” The pressure is now more on McLaren than on Red Bull, because, at this point, the four-time world champion “doesn’t have a lot to lose.” All he has to do is push flat out for the remainder of the season and hope for some internal battles between the drivers of the Woking-based squad.

The Singapore Challenge: A Chink in Verstappen’s Armor?

While Verstappen himself sounded “a bit pessimistic” about his chances, he unequivocally has his eyes on the prize, taking it “one race at a time.” He admitted, “It’s seven races to go and it’s still 69 points, it’s a lot. Basically everything needs to go perfectly from my side, and then I need a bit of bad luck from McLaren’s side as well. So it’s still very tough.”

The first major challenge will come in Singapore, a race Verstappen has never won in his career. Even in 2023, when he dominated the season with 19 wins in 23 events, Singapore was the only track where Ferrari stood on the highest step of the podium. Singapore is a high-downforce circuit, combined with extreme humidity that saps the drivers’ capabilities. Furthermore, Red Bull has not been known to perform well on high-downforce circuits, often lagging behind McLaren. It’s plausible that the low-downforce nature of Monza and Baku allowed Verstappen to enjoy two consecutive wins after a long pause.

RB21 Upgrades and the Role of a Teammate

However, the improvements on the RB21 have become quite visible. Verstappen praised the arrival of Laurent Mekies, stating that finally, the driver is “being listened to a lot more.” This, combined with a great performance from Yuki Tsunoda, who managed to keep Norris behind at P7 and steal two valuable points from the Brit, demonstrates effective teamwork. This is the role Tsunoda needs to embrace for the rest of the season if he wants to be considered a serious contender for the seat, and it’s a factor Verstappen will undoubtedly use to his advantage.

When asked about the RB21’s upgrades and whether they would translate to pure performance on high-downforce tracks, Max said, “It’s just a combination of a lot of things that have gone better in the last few weeks. We have understood a bit more about the car. Of course, they’re two low-downforce tracks, so we have to wait and see how we’re going to perform again on a high-downforce track. For now, we’re just very happy with what we’re doing, and then we’ll just find out now in the upcoming races as to how that will go on other kinds of layouts.”

McLaren’s Concern and a Warning from Andrea Stella

McLaren appears to be playing the role of an underdog, with Norris saying that the crashes in Baku showed their car is “not easy to drive.” However, the reality is a bit different. The advantage is still on their side, but with Verstappen receiving a more competitive car and his teammate improving, there might be a serious threat to the number one spot on the drivers’ list.

Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, stated loud and clear: “Red Bull are back in contention and we need to take them as serious candidates from this point onward.” When you have Verstappen as your rival, everything in the championship narrative changes. Now, apart from taking points from each other, the McLaren drivers will have to worry about whether the four-time world champion will enter his usual “beast mode” and win races in a continuous manner. Stella elaborated, “Red Bull is a very serious contender to win races and a very serious contender for the drivers’ championship. Is Verstappen back into contention with just 224 points left on the table?” The answer was a firm “YES.” We must not forget that he is Max Verstappen, a world champion for the last four years, in a fast car.

Lessons from the Past and Present Pressures

Stella also noted that there are races where McLaren may not enjoy a competitive advantage. At the same time, this is the perfect period in the season for Piastri to have experienced the miserable weekend that he just did. His teammate has shown that capitalizing on Oscar’s mistakes is just “not in his veins.” Although points were literally stolen by his mechanics’ slow pit stop, a poor qualifying position put him in that vulnerable spot in the first place.

The same cannot be said for Max Verstappen. The man is delivering results whenever asked of him, and it’s hard to imagine him “lacking in such situations where a lot is being expected.” Now, one starts to wonder whether the crash in Austria and the performances in Budapest and Silverstone will matter a lot at the end of the championship.

For those who forgot, Verstappen finished ninth in Budapest while McLaren secured the front row. In Silverstone, he finished fifth, with Norris and Piastri being P1 and P2. Compared to Piastri, he lost a total of 18 points in these two races alone. In Austria, he failed to score points while Piastri finished second, a loss of 36 points to Piastri in just three races.

Entering the remainder of the 2025 campaign with zero pressure on your shoulders is definitely the way you want to do things, but you also need a lot of luck from the other camp’s side. With Norris failing to capitalize on Piastri’s poor weekend and scoring just six points in Baku, a shock in the championship seems unlikely based on pure merit.

Be that as it may, the question remains: is Max Verstappen truly back in the championship fight, and if so, how can he nullify the deficit to the Woking-based squad? A thrilling and unpredictable F1 season awaits!