Ever since Sebastian Vettel retired from F1 at the end of the 2022 season, he has become a fan of the sport just like everyone else. The German has seemingly kept close tabs on the 2025 campaign, which many believe is likely to be the most competitive season of the current ground-effect era.
Naturally, Vettel would want to follow the progress of two teams he has previously driven for—Ferrari and Red Bull. With his former arch-rival Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari this season, Vettel hopes nothing but the best for him.
“My fingers are crossed for him to win the championship,” the 37-year-old replied when asked if he would like to see Hamilton win his eighth title with the Scuderia and, in turn, also end the team’s 17-year title drought. Now, Vettel has also made similar comments about wanting to see Max Verstappen achieve more success with Red Bull.
Vettel has always been supportive of Verstappen and even motivated the Dutchman, who did not think he could beat the German former driver’s record of nine consecutive race wins. Still, Verstappen managed to do so as he won 10 consecutive races in his record-breaking 2023 season. Now, Vettel is hopeful that Verstappen can surpass another one of his records.
“I’m pretty sure he (Verstappen) can do it with the titles too—if anyone can, it’s him, especially with Red Bull,” Vettel said in a recent interview when asked if the 27-year-old can break his record of four titles with the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Vettel believes Verstappen can win his fifth title this year itself despite Red Bull not having the most competitive car. In 2024, the Dutchman did show that he is capable of winning the championship in a sub-par Red Bull car—as the RB20 became the third-fastest car as the season progressed.
Max Verstappen joins Sebastian Vettel as the only driver with four drivers’ championships before turning 30 pic.twitter.com/Ocf6vkunZZ
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 24, 2024
This helped Verstappen equal Vettel’s tally of four consecutive championships at the Las Vegas GP last season. That triumph made the F1 community draw parallels between the two Red Bull champions and highlight that Verstappen is truly one of the greatest drivers F1 has witnessed.
And the 27-year-old has emphasized that fact via his multiple performances defying the odds during his fourth title-winning campaign. The question is whether he can emulate that in 2025.
“You can never write off Max”: Vettel
After watching McLaren dominate the first two races of the 2025 season with a 1-2 finish, Vettel also agrees that the Woking-based outfit have the edge over other teams. With Lando Norris spearheading McLaren’s charge, Vettel believes that the Briton is probably one of the favorites to win the championship this season.
That said, the German also believes that Verstappen can never be written off. “At the moment, it looks like a duel between Max and Lando because McLaren is so strong and Lando has gained so much experience,” Vettel added. “But you can never write off Max, and Red Bull will fight back”.
Although McLaren’s MCL39 seems to have a significant pace advantage over Red Bull’s RB21, Verstappen—as he always does—has found a way to overachieve. He currently finds himself second in the championship, just eight points behind leader Norris.
So Norris cannot afford to make any more slip-ups—as he did during the Chinese GP sprint race—as Verstappen’s immaculate consistency will always ensure that he stays in the title race.
