Max Verstappen’s Reign Over Formula One is Coming to a Close
New York, New York (PSF) - This Formula One (F1) season has seen the most parody in the sport in the last decade. Although you wouldn’t know this by simply looking at the standings. Red Bull is first in the Constructors Championship ahead of Ferrari by 64 points; and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is leading the World Drivers’ Championship by 81 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris. Though these margins are much smaller than in 2022 and 2023, as the top four teams have made major upgrades to their cars. Through 11 races there have been five different driver winners and four different constructor wins. With Verstappen’s margin on track shrinking, upcoming changes to the F1 landscape, and constant controversy surrounding himself and the team, his dynastic window is now closed.
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F1 is all about speed, and while no one can deny Max’s brilliance on track in the last two years he was driving the fastest car on track. That is no longer the case in 2024, the McLaren’s have proven to be the fastest car on track since Lando Norris’ first career win in Miami. In the five races since Miami a McLaren has placed second each time with Norris finishing second in Italy, Canada, and Spain and Oscar Piastri finishing second in Monaco and on Sunday in Austria.
Ferrari has also made their mark on the season with Carlos Saniz winning in Australia and Charles Leclerc winning his home Grand Prix in Monaco. Since then they have somewhat struggled to regain the pace that they found earlier in the season but with Sainz’s podium finish on Sunday in Austria the Scuderia faithful are anticipating a return to form in this critical stretch in the season.
Mercedes have rebounded from a very slow start to the season. In the last three races, George Russell was able to achieve pole in Canada (finished third), Lewis Hamilton finished third in Spain, and Russell won in Austria on Sunday. Mercedes have found new pace and have two very capable drivers who will be battling for front position for the remainder of this pivotal season for Mercedes with Hamilton’s impending departure to Ferrari.
McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull will be fighting for race wins and championships for the foreseeable future and each of these teams have made moves to secure their future and put themselves in the best position to be champions this year and in years to come. Although not all moves hold the same weight. McLaren have extended Norris’ on a multi-year contract and have Piastri through 2026, both have great talent and at 24 and 23 respectively McLaren seemed destined for a great driver partnership for a long time. Mercedes have Russell, who is 25, and while they are losing arguably the greatest driver of all time in Lewis Hamilton, they have faith in 17- year-old and current F2 driver Kimi Antonelli who they hope to be their driver of the future. Ferrari after this season will have a driver pairing of Leclerc and Hamilton which will be the most accomplished driver pairing on the grid and with constant improvement and understanding of the car Ferrari are not far off from truly challenging for the championship.
Red Bull is a different story. They extended Sergio Perez through 2026 which puzzled most as Perez has had multiple major crashes this year and is currently fifth in the drivers standings while his teammate is in the lead. They survived controversy this year involving their Team Principal and a sexual harassment allegiation and Max Verstappen’s father meeting with Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, feeding into rumors that Verstappen could leave Red Bull. Their chief engineer Adrian Newey who has been imperative at constructing the car that Verstappen has won the World Drivers’ Championship in the last three seasons will be leaving and joining a new team after the season. Newey is reportedly mulling offers from Ferrari and Aston Martin. It is extremely unlikely Red Bull does not regress after losing their leading architect, especially with the upcoming regulations coming in 2026 to F1.
In 2026, F1 will be introducing new regulations to increase action and overtakes on track but also be safer and more environmentally conscious. The cars will be 66 pounds lighter, run on fully sustainable fuel, have three times the electrical power available to drivers, a safer battery placement, active aerodynamics in the front and rear wings of the car, and at a lower cost. This will bring in new challenges for drivers as control going in and out of corners will be different, the management of the electrical power provided to them, and the increase of overtakes and speed. These new regulations will bring totally new cars and who these teams bring in to design their cars is extremely important. Also the new regulations will put a larger emphasis on driver skill, so the team not only with the best car but also the best drivers should win most races.
Red Bull do not have the best driver skill or the best car in 2024 so I am reluctant to think they will have either in 2026 when these regulations are set in. As I explained before the McLaren’s have proven that they have the fastest car for a majority of the season thus far but until Sunday they were bested by the sheer skill of Verstappen. The events in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix showed me that Verstappen’s skills are not at the impenetrable level that some believe and it also reminded me of the infamous 2021 season long championship battle between Verstappen and Hamilton.
On lap 64 of the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, Norris was going for his third attempt to overtake Verstappen. Norris had been gaining on Verstappen and had gotten to a point where it was just the two drivers well ahead of the rest of the grid. Norris on his overtake attempt presents himself outside entering the braking zone and subsequent corner. As the two drivers approach the corner and Norris continues to close the gap, Verstappen starts to veer left into Norris’ racing line. Just before the apex of the corner Verstappen bumps Norris, puncturing one of Norris’ tires and ending his race. Verstappen would have to pit due to damage but would still manage to finish fifth in the race.
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https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/1807419092040565009
According to FIA rules, the stewards regulating the race and providing penalties are able to give out penalties if they believe a driver moves in defense in the braking zone. Another FIA enforced rule is that a driver must allow a car's width between the end of their vehicle and the track limits when approaching a corner. These are recently integrated rules into F1 because of Verstappen. At the Japanese Grand Prix in 2016, Verstappen had an encounter on track with Hamilton in which he moved under braking to defend. At that point the FIA made it a point of emphasis to look for moving under braking. Verstappen has a history of doing this unsafe maneuver under braking and in 2021 it cost Hamilton an eighth World Drivers’ Championship and on Sunday it cost Norris a second career Grand Prix victory. In the collision on Sunday it is obvious that the drivers are in the braking zone and you notably see Verstappen veer to his left, not leave Norris a car's width from the track limit, and hit his car all because Verstappen refuses to amicably lose a position.
https://x.com/SkySportsF1/status/1807441967397195858
There has been a large outcry against Verstappen in the coming days since the Grand Prix and it is especially noticeable if you were a fan of F1 in 2021 and you saw Verstappen do this time and time again. In 2021, Verstappen and Hamilton engaged in wire to wire warfare for the World Drivers’ Championship, but multiple times Verstappen exceeded the line of just racing into legitimate dangerous maneuvering. First was in the Italian Grand Prix when Verstappen refused to give up the lead and took himself and Hamilton out of the race in a collision. Then in Brazil on turn four Verstappen ran Hamilton wide in hopes of preventing the overtake, it would not work and Hamilton would go on to win the race. Next it was Saudi Arabia in which Verstappen won a race that would have been a Hamiltom win if not for an early safety car erasing an immaculate start from Hamilton, and in the ladder part of the race Verstappen brake checked Hamilton to avoid being passed. Lastly, the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi when both drivers went in equal on points. Hamilton would hold the lead from the first lap when he passed Verstappen until the final lap in which a safety car allowed Verstappen to get a pit advantage and pass Hamilton on the last lap of the season.
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/17857429/fia-clamps-moving-braking
Verstappen is obviously a very skilled driver, it would be ignorant for me to say that he isn’t but we have yet to see Verstappen win a World Drivers’ Championship off of overwhelming skill. In 2021, Verstappen had the slightly faster car but Hamilton was the more skilled and polished driver and it took a number of events going Verstappen’s way in order for him to win that championship; while it was a generational championship battle, one could argue the championship came with an asterisk. In 2022 and 2023 respectively Verstappen and Red Bull had the best car on the grid. No other car was comparable to Verstappen’s and we saw gaps like we had never seen before between first and second place. So while I believe Verstappen is skilled, I believe Hamilton is more skilled and I believe Norris and Leclerc are just as skilled drivers as Verstappen.
With Hamilton and Leclerc joining forces at Ferrari, Norris at McLaren progressing at a faster rate than Red Bull, and the impending changes to F1 I believe the fight for the next five World Drivers’ Championships will be decided between Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, and Hamilton. Out of those four Verstappen is not the most skilled and will not be in the best car. Therefore, Verstappen is done winning the World Drivers’ Championships because he has not shown that his skill is great enough to overcome those shortcomings.
