Max Verstappen is a man of many talents, as his latest victory in a GT3 race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife showed.
The Red Bull driver has recently found himself back in the hunt for the 2025 drivers’ championship, after winning each of the last two Formula 1 races. During the summer break, his chances had been written off by virtually everyone.
However, the combination of some inspired driving, as well as a new floor upgrade, has helped to reinvigorate Verstappen’s charge. McLaren have a reason to be looking over their shoulders once more, setting up a tense final seven races of the season.
Verstappen’s ‘capacity’ will make him better in 2026 as his team prepares to run their own power unit for the first time in their history. If he wants to be in contention for the title, Verstappen must perform well at Singapore, otherwise, the gap will be almost unachievable once more.
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Nelson Piquet Jr thinks Max Verstappen’s Nurburgring GT3 victory was against easier opponents
Verstappen’s ‘Plan A’ is to do the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2026, but he’s still working towards getting a licence for it. His latest triumph was yet another step in the right direction, after another race and test also went well a few weeks ago.
After being watched by other racing drivers, Verstappen’s traffic navigation was ‘almost impossible to explain’ and proved why he might be the most well-rounded racing driver of all time. This category and car is completely new to him, and he has taken to it like a duck to water.
Nelson Piquet Jr has spotted that it wasn’t the sort of GT3 race ‘everyone’ competes in, referring to the regulars who might tackle the 24-hour variant. Nonetheless, his performance was still impressive.
“Obviously, I don’t want to take away his credit, but it wasn’t the GT3 race that everyone does,” said Piquet Jr. “It’s a monthly race, I think, which is to classify, to get a licence, this, that and so on.
“I think the point here is not his result, but the humility of going through the process and not being afraid to race against people who he knows. He has the team there that runs his cars, but the Swiss team there. For him, no problem.”
What does Max Verstappen need to do to have a shot at the 2025 Formula 1 title?
Giedo van der Garde is adamant that Verstappen will win the 2025 F1 title because McLaren simply make more mistakes than Red Bull.
That may be down to inexperience in situations when the pressure is ramped up, but they’ll want to prove that theory wrong. With the car and advantage they have, there’s no way that anything other than a one-two finish should be acceptable.
This is Verstappen’s fifth year in a row vying for top honours, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri haven’t really done so since they competed in Formula 2.
There will be some rust to shake off, and there were already signs of that when the latter crashed at the last race in Baku. As the reigning champion applies more pressure, expect to see more fireworks.