With just three races remaining in 2024, fans and experts have one eye out for the 2025 F1 season. The anticipation around the same boils down to how Red Bull and Max Verstappen have lost their status as F1’s most dominant team, giving hope of more competition and potentially, a new Champion.
With Red Bull on the verge of losing the Constructors’ title this year, Martin Brundle expects 2025 to be “an all-time classic”.
2024 has seen seven different race winners. Brundle has suggested that there could be even more next season, as the performance gap between cars continues to close. Most of the top teams have gained a solid understanding of the regulations introduced in 2022, and with 2025 being the final year under these rules, they may push their cars to the limit.
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Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes — all of them produced race winning cars in 2024. Although Mercedes dropped the ball slightly after winning three heading into the summer break, they could make a return to the sharp end of the grid next season.
McLaren and Ferrari are also predicted to compete at the front, like they have for the majority of this season. As such, there could be a four-team battle for the Constructors’ title in 2025.
Plus, like Brundle warned him, Verstappen could arguably face his toughest title defense yet, assuming he holds on to his 62-point advantage over Lando Norris in the last three weekends and becomes a four-time World Champion before the turn of the year.
Why 2025 could witness the end of Verstappen’s dominance?
Verstappen won a record 19 out of 22 races in 2023, but he has arguably delivered his best driving this season. In 2023, he achieved his success with the RB19 — a historically dominant car. Its successor, however, has struggled on the track, yet Verstappen has still managed to produce impressive results.
His outperformance is evident when his results are compared with those of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman has won eight races so far while the Mexican is yet (and unlikely) to open his account.
However, since Verstappen has managed just one win (came in the most recent race in Sao Paulo) in his last 11 races, there is good reason to believe that he is likely to find it very difficult to replicate a similar level of form next year if Red Bull are unable to improve the balance of the car.
Therefore, there is a high possibility that 2025 could see the end of Verstappen’s dominance, with the Milton-Keynes-based team already on the verge of losing the title this year. As things stand, Red Bull are currently 13 points behind second-placed Ferrari and a further 36 points behind leaders McLaren, who are aiming to win their first Constructors’ title in over 30 years.
