Max Verstappen missed out on the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship, but the Red Bull driver still put together an impressive campaign.
Verstappen faced a challenging start to the season, with Red Bull struggling to get the best out of the RB21. Early on, he voiced concerns about the car’s balance through corners, although it eventually became one of the strongest cars on the grid by year’s end.
While most teams shifted their focus early towards 2026 regulations – Ferrari stopped development in April and McLaren followed suit in July – Red Bull kept bringing updates in hopes of keeping the Dutchman in title contention.
The team believed that ongoing improvements to the RB21 would not hurt their preparations for 2026. That decision helped Verstappen close what had once been a 104-point gap to Oscar Piastri after 15 rounds. Even after trailing Norris by 70 points following August’s Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen still found himself back in contention down the stretch.
Max Verstappen’s 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix fastest lap raises eyebrows in modern F1
Verstappen managed to outscore Norris in seven of the last nine races and did so against Piastri in all nine, finishing just two points short of a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.
And for Mike Hezemans, one moment from the season stood out above the rest: the Dutch driver’s performance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen went on to win by more than 20 seconds over Norris, who finished second on track but was later disqualified along with Piastri due to excessive floor wear.
“I’ll never forget. We were waiting for him at the media pen in Las Vegas. There are two laps left, and he’s got the fastest time.
“And on the last lap, he’s three or four tenths faster than his fastest lap, and seven tenths faster than the entire field. In Formula 1, it makes no sense. I think that’s so clever. And that they still manage to do that, that’s incredible,” Hezemans said to RacingNews365.
Max Verstappen delivers fastest lap in Imola, Baku, and Las Vegas late in the Race
On his final lap around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Verstappen clocked a 1:33.365, putting him 0.600 seconds clear of any other driver during the November race. Norris posted the next best time with a 1:33.965.
It was one of only three times the Dutchman clocked the fastest lap during the season. He also set the quickest time while winning both the Emilia Romagna GP – posting a 1:17.988 on Lap 58 out of 63 – and Azerbaijan GP, where he hit a Lap 50/51 mark of 2:32.660.
Another notable performance came from Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who recorded a 1:33.998 on Lap 48 in Las Vegas despite making his only pit stop as early as lap two.
Antonelli ended up matching Verstappen’s season tally of three fastest laps, also adding Japan and Belgium to his list. Meanwhile, Norris and Piastri each posted six fastest laps across the year, while George Russell managed three.
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