Last Updated on July 6 2025, 1:58 pm
Max Verstappen will struggle to overturn the 61 point deficit he has to Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri. He needs to outscore the McLaren driver by just over 5 points on average across there remaining thirteen race weekends which on current form seems highly unlikely.
Since the points system changed in 2010 to the current 25 for w win, 18 for second etc, no driver has made such a comeback with just over half a season remaining. Yet since the advent of the Sprint, there are now an extra 42 points on offer each year in addition to the Grand Prix on Sunday.
And there remain four Sprint weekends to come this season, something Verstappen has dominated since its inception. From the 20 Sprint’s held to date, Max has won 11 and none of the other five victors on Saturday have more than two to their name.
Red Bull work their magic again
Even so, to claw back such a deficit would be unprecedented, but then again Max Verstappen is a unique F1 talent and during his 2023 campaign he smashed a whole host of records, many of which have stood for decades.
Having begun the British Grand Prix weekend with a car he described as “undriveable”, Verstappen claimed pole position being the last driver to cross the line in qualifying three. Red Bull had fitted a “Monza type rear wing” to improve the balance of the car and remove the understeer Verstappen had been complaining about.
Red Bull are still suffering correlation issues between the pre-race simulations and the set up of the car they start each weekend with. Yet once again they cancelled the half a second deficit they had on Friday to the leaders and with a genius lap from Verstappen claimed pole with a relatively comfortable gap, to the drivers P2-P6.
With the low downforce setup, Verstappen was predictably much quicker down the straights. It looked as though Red Bull were looking more towards the race with this rear wing configuration giving Verstappen a better chance of overtaking. However, astonishingly Max was also quicker in the high speed sections of the Silverstone track, at Maggots and Beckets.
Button says Max is “the best racing driver ever…”
“The bit that’s amazing for me is that he’s going through Becketts quicker, and that’s the bit that I can’t comprehend,” said the 2009 British champion. “All the other bits, fair enough! It does blow my mind!” In the following debate amongst the Sky F1 TV presenters, Button made an incredible claim refuting a position he held previously about his old team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Whilst discussing Verstappen’s options moving forward, Button made this bold claim. “The good thing that Max has in his favour is that he’s probably the best racing driver that’s ever raced in a Formula One car. So everyone wants him. It’s a nice position to be in, but it’s also tricky to pick and choose who is going to be competitive next year,” said the guest TV presenter.
“Red Bull is a team that has given him so much over the years, and this car really suits his driving style. But are they going to be good enough next year? Everyone is going on about the power units, the power unit of the Mercedes seems to be very strong compared to everything else. So he [might] want to be in a Mercedes, but can they deliver the car for him that suits his style? Who knows?” Concluded the 43 year old British racer.
Button who raced against greats such as Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton is echoing others with the same view in the paddock, as the world champion once again his having a remarkable season. The RB21 is one of the trickiest to drive cars this year, something testified first by Liam Lawson and now in his fifth year of racing, Yuki Tsunoda.
Verstappen’s record fifth out of reach?
Verstappen is 10-0 ahead of his Japanese team mate in qualifying this season and of course was 2-0 against Lawson in their brief time together over the opening two weekends of the season. As an aside Fernando Alonso is the only other current driver to whitewash his team mate in qualifying in 2025, although Stroll has now suffered 24 consecutive race weekends finishing behind his team mate on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton’s camp may take issue with his former team mates opinion on Max Verstappen having come within a whisker of winning a record eight F1 drivers’ title back in 2021. Max current run of four championships has only been achieved three times before in history, with Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton having completed the quadruple previously.
A fifth consecutive championship, whilst now unlikely, would see Max equal Schumacher’s record set between 2000 and 2004. However this was set in an era without a cost cap restricting the spending of the F1 teams, and when Ferrari broke the bank to deliver their years of dominance.
A new round of “greatest ever” debate
Hamilton too benefitted from Mercedes massive spending on their 2014 power unit with a reported $1bn expended on R&D to deliver the most dominant powertrain for close to a decade. Lewis won six of his titles in a Mercedes with their all conquering 1.5litre V6 turbo hybrid in the back of his car.
Even Sebastian Vettel had a more dominant car than Verstappen has had – with the exception of 2023 – which can be seen by the all time record number of F1 pole positions (15) he delivered in 2013. Button’s claim that Verstappen is the “best ever…” will spark a new round of debates on the topic although the partisan Briths F1 fans may take issue with Jenson’s claims.
Brundle criticises “unfair” Toto Wolff
Brundle critical of Wolff’s “unfair” behaviour – Formula One’s paddock elder statesman now claims that the Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is treating George Russell unfairly. The British driver who joined Mercedes the year after the calamitous end to Hamilton’s attempt at a record eight F1 drivers’ title, is out of contract with the silver arrows team come the end of this year.
During their three seasons together at Mercedes, Russell comprehensively beat his champion team mate 2-1 and in their final year together the young gun destroyed Hamilton in Saturday qualifying 18-6 and in the races on Sunday the tally was 15-8 against Lewis.
Now having inherited the mantle of team leader for the Brackley based team, Russell is once again delivering big time for Mercedes. He has scored almost three quarters of the team’s points this season to date while his talented rookie team mate is struggling to find his feet…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
