At the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in June, Verstappen clashed twice with the Mercedes of George Russell. (PHOTO: AP)
Like many greats of Formula One, Max Verstappen is prone to fits of red mist. At times, it can be petulant and self-defeating.
The Dutchman spent much of the 2025 season proving he belonged in the category of the greats. In the latter half of the year, he put on fierce and relentlessly quick drives despite being in considerably inferior machinery to the two McLarens, eventually falling just short of completing what would have surely been one of the greatest comebacks in motorsport. Battling his car and backroom upheaval in his team, Verstappen was more than 100 points behind in the championship race as late as August before ending the season just two points behind eventual champion Lando Norris.
But the narrow point deficit that came in between Verstappen and a fifth successive world title – which would have made him the only driver other than Michael Schumacher to complete the feat – may well have been that regrettable red mist.
At the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in June, Verstappen clashed twice with the Mercedes of George Russell after a safety car restart. The first was a result of the Dutchman trying his best on less grippy hard tyres to defend a place, and having been adjudged to have caused a crash, told to hand the place to Russell. After feeling hard done by, he deliberately drove into Russell, at low speeds, out of anger. The second incident gave him a 10-second time penalty that took his race finishing position from fifth to 10th, resulting in a loss of nine championship points.
Verstappen later admitted the crash was irresponsible and apologised. But he was incensed when asked by reporters in December if there was more regret considering he got so close to the title. He instead pointed out, rightly so, that his being in the title race itself was immensely fortunate. One of the McLaren drivers would have sealed the title far earlier had the team not made so many strategy and setup errors for the Dutchman to take advantage of.
His achievement in causing a triple-digit point swing – going from an 80/1 contender according to the bookmakers to nearly champion – deserves the heaps of high praise it has received. But victory would have made the story of his season a legend; those nine points now seem costlier than ever.