Long championships like the ones we experienced in 2024 and 2025 teach us that on-court values can change very quickly over the course of a season. In 2024 we had a Red Bull that at the beginning of the year we considered an unparalleled favorite. Then we saw McLaren return, win the constructors' championship and Verstappen fight, defensively, to win his fourth world title.
This year, if you will, we have witnessed an almost reverse scenario. 2025 started with a very strong McLaren and a slower Red Bull, but it still seemed to hold its own. After the first 3-4 races, the Papaya team took over and the Red Bull suffered another collapse, almost 2024-style. Verstappen struggled for almost the entire European season: after taking away the 8 points he scored in Bahrain (which is certainly not Europe), Max only got 1 point in Spain, 0 in Spielberg due to contact with Antonelli and 2 points in Hungary.
Arriving in Netherlands, the first signs of recovery with second place, which represented his return to the podium after a four-race absence. Verstappen reached his season-high gap to the world championship leader, who at that point was Oscar Piastri: 104 points, more than four races with full points.
Red Bull showed character, quality dispersed in this Ferrari
If Max Verstappen had driven for Ferrari, the team we saw perform this year, the gap would probably only have widened. Red Bull did not give up in the face of a championship that already seemed lost in Zandvoort, also thanks to the arrival of new team principal Laurent Mekies who gave a boost. The team continued to provide targeted updates for individual events, took risks by installing a new power unit in Brazil, and all of this allowed Verstappen not only to close that gap - the famous 104 point delay he had in the Netherlands - but also to get closer to the world dream, coming within just 2 points of the finish line. From what would have been his fifth world title.
If there's one Red Bull trait Ferrari should try to emulate, it's this: stubbornness, a desire for redemption, the courage to dare, that strength to never give up. Ferrari seems to have gotten lost: in 2025 he appeared disoriented. The house of Maranello has always shown great strength in the past. It had all these characteristics. Even when the season didn't smile on her face, Ferrari was famous for testing it with drivers, technicians, mechanics.
This year the Italian team seems to have lost their bearings on several occasions, especially in the final GPs of the season, where they often pulled oars in boats, at the mercy of a sea they didn't understand. Obviously we hope to find her again soon and especially in time for 2026.
Cover photo: Red Bull Racing; internal photo: Ferrari
Read also in italian language: Quella maledetta forza di non mollare mai. Qualità dispersa in questa Ferrari
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Abu Dhabi GP 2025
