Formula 1 in turmoil
The specter is back
04.10.2025 – 11:54 a.m.Reading time: 4 min.
Max Verstappen had actually left the race for the world championship title, but now the defending champion is back. He only has a problem.
Even on racing-free weekends, Max Verstappen is now taking a sip of winning champagne. While Formula 1 took a break last weekend, he still got into the racing car. On the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring, the Dutch in a GT3 car took part in a course of the long-distance world championship.
The legendary racetrack in the Eifel is also called “green hell” due to its high complexity and danger. Every driver who wants to take part in races there must first make his own racing license for the route. Verstappen recently received this license. He now celebrated his debut – and won the first race directly. “This is the best racing driver in the world,” said Routinier Frank Stippler, who took third place in Ford, impressed by Verstappen.
Verstappen recently underlined his claim to this title in his actual home: Formula 1. The past two races won the four -time world champion. Despite a weak start of the season, a new title defense suddenly seems possible again. To do this, Verstappen would have to put an almost perfect final sprint. However, his biggest problem is already waiting this weekend.
Actually, it was already agreed that the two McLaren pilots Oscar Piatri and Lando Norris would make up the World Cup title among themselves this year. The problems at Red Bull were too big, too dominant the British racing team with his two potted drivers.
Only two of the first 15 seasonals were able to win Verstappen, twelve of the other 13 races won a McLaren pilot. Hardly anyone doubted Verstappen’s class. Rather, his Red Bull had big problems and too often could not keep up with the tip of the field. Again and again Verstappen complained bitterly about the driving behavior of his car. With four podiums in addition to the two wins, the world champion usually got the best possible result from the poor car.
The problems with Red Bull were so big that team boss Christian Horner, who has headed the racing team in 2005 and led to a total of eight driver titles with Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen as well as six constructor titles, had to go in July. Laurent Mekies, until then team boss of the smaller sister team Racing Bulls, took over Horner’s position.
After a little start -up time, the racing team under Mekies is clearly stabilized. Some updates on the car brought a significant improvement – and allowed Verstappen so to get involved again in the fight for victories. He could not be asked twice: At the Grand Prix of Italy in early September, the 28-year-old drove to pole position and coincided with this perfect starting point in his third win of the season.