What really cost Verstappen the title beyond his biggest error

Max Verstappen assembled one of Formula 1's greatest unsuccessful title campaigns in 2025, finishing just two points behind champion Lando Norris. While his collision with George Russell in Spain—a mistake he admitted was his biggest of the year—cost him eight or nine points, pinning the entire championship defeat on that single incident is an oversimplification of a complex and dramatic season.

Why it matters:

Reducing a 24-race championship battle to one moment ignores the myriad of factors that define an F1 season, from car performance and team strategy to luck and rival errors. Verstappen's reaction to the question in Abu Dhabi—where he snapped at a journalist—highlighted his frustration with this narrow narrative. A deeper look reveals his title bid was shaped far more by Red Bull's inconsistent car in the first half of the season than by any single driving error.

The details:

• Verstappen's points loss in Spain is an easy, but flawed, focal point. He was beaten by two points and the incident cost him eight or nine, creating a simple mathematical link.
• However, many other moments swung points throughout the year:
  • A half-spin in wet conditions at Silverstone potentially cost a podium, losing around five points.
  • He was an innocent victim of a Kimi Antonelli collision in Austria.
  • Red Bull's disastrous Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, with poor strategy and pace, relegated him to ninth.
• Verstappen himself emphasized the championship is the sum of 24 races, with too many swings to isolate one moment. He also pointed to "early Christmas presents"—mistakes by McLaren and its drivers in the second half of the season that offered him opportunities.

The big picture:

The core reason Verstappen lost the title was Red Bull's performance rollercoaster. For the first 14 races, the car was inconsistently the second- to fourth-fastest, rarely matching McLaren. This period saw Verstappen fall nearly 100 points off the championship lead. It's astounding he fought back into contention at all, which is a testament to his driving and the team's second-half improvements. After the summer break, Red Bull often had the quicker car, allowing Verstappen to amass more wins than either Norris or Oscar Piastri over the full season—an unthinkable feat at the summer break.

What's next:

Verstappen views 2025 as his best season in F1, citing strong personal performance and his ability to extract the maximum from a difficult car. He insists he has "no regrets." The season poses a compelling "what if": if the Red Bull had been as competitive from the Dutch GP onward all year, the entire championship narrative would differ. While a theoretically perfect season from Verstappen could have made him champion, the same is true for his rivals. No champion is ever perfect, and holding Verstappen to that standard overlooks the incredible drive of his comeback from a massive points deficit.