Max Verstappen has the chance to match Michael Schumacher as the only F1 driver to win five titles in succession, but the Dutchman’s reign appears set to end this season.
Schumacher made history with Ferrari between 2000 and ‘04 when the German became the only person to win the F1 drivers’ championship in five straight seasons. Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-57), Sebastian Vettel (2010-13) and Lewis Hamilton (2017-20) have won four in a row.
Verstappen now looks set to join Fangio, Vettel and Hamilton after lifting the title during the 2021, ‘22, ‘23 and ‘24 campaigns. The Red Bull racer ranks third in the standings in the 2025 F1 season, but he now trails Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris of McLaren by 97 and 88 points.
Additionally, Verstappen doubts he will win another race in 2025, having gone seven Grands Prix without a victory and only scored one podium in that time. The Dutchman also won the F1 Sprint at July’s Belgian GP since winning his most recent Grand Prix at Imola back in May.
Photo by Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesRed Bull must change their technical department for Max Verstappen to win another title ‘soon’
With Red Bull just fourth in the constructors’ standings and now 365 points behind McLaren after 14 of the 24 rounds scheduled in 2025, their ex-F1 driver Robert Doornbos questions if Verstappen can ‘rely’ on the Milton Keynes outfit to give him a car to win another title soon.
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Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 284 2 275 3 187 4 172
So, after Red Bull sacked Christian Horner without telling him why he was being replaced by Laurent Mekies, Doornbos believes their new team principal needs to change their technical department. But Red Bull will not find a design guru who can actually replace Adrian Newey.
Doornbos told Motorsport.com: “The driver is important, but so is the team in the pit garage, as are the engineers at the factory. You trust each other constantly to deliver maximum work when you take responsibility.
“When Max gets in the car, he takes responsibility for his driving talents. But can he rely on his team in the pits and his engineers to ensure the car is properly set up, and on the mechanics to ensure his car continues to run?
“‘[The] Christian Horner era [is] over. Laurent Mekies, you’re the man, go ahead and do it with this current technical team’. That’s a different team from the one that achieved Max Verstappen’s successes with Jonathan Wheatley, Adrian Newey and Christian Horner.
“You’re not going to just replace those people. I also don’t think Red Bull will return to the top anytime soon this way. It’s just a matter of laying bricks and building again, and seeing how the new rules take shape. But Laurent will also have to start shifting roles within the organisation because continuing on the same path won’t work.”
Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache is under pressure after Christian Horner was sacked
Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Mekies is overseeing a vast restructuring at Red Bull following the sacking of their long-time team principal, Horner, in July. The 48-year-old Frenchman, who has even taken over as Red Bull’s F1 CEO, is likely also having to improve the atmosphere at their Milton Keynes factory.
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Red Bull are starting a new era without Horner at the helm following his fight for power. The new dawn in Milton Keynes could also see changes in their technical department, as Pierre Wache is under increasing pressure at Red Bull owing to their inability to improve the RB21.
Horner picked Wache to replace Newey at the top of Red Bull’s technical department when the most successful car designer in F1 history chose to leave last May. But Red Bull have not been able to address their persistent decline since, so Mekies may be considering changes.