When Max Verstappen got the checkered flag in the Lone Star State nearly eight seconds ahead of second place on Sunday afternoon, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had turned back the calendar to the 2023 Formula 1 season.
As the four-time world champ stretched the gap with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris from lap one to 56, his United States Grand Prix in Austin held shades of a more dominant Verstappen.
Similar to his winning streak in 2023—claiming 19 trophies in 23 races—the Dutch driver boasted a clean sweep this race weekend. Verstappen sped to pole position in both the sprint and feature race qualifying sessions and went on to hold the lead in both. By Sunday afternoon’s big show, the camera crew periodically panned to the leading man, but focused on battles further down the leaderboard.
Unlike 2023’s 19 wins or even 2024’s nine top-step podium finishes, Verstappen claimed only his fifth race win of the season in Austin. Red Bull’s competitive form in 2025 has been anything but spectacular. With Christian Horner losing his position as team principal, a near-constant revolving door of underperforming second drivers and a car that seems like a shell of what it once was, Red Bull’s glory days are coming to a close. The team’s chance at the World Constructors’ Championship title was squashed at the Singapore GP when McLaren clinched the honor. Red Bull sits in fourth place.
But, despite it all, Verstappen remains the one driver who proves it is impossible—or at least, a very poor decision—to bet against the team.
It’s been a running joke throughout 2025 that Verstappen, aka “The Inevitable,” would swoop behind and lunge ahead to win the World Drivers’ Championship while both sides of the McLaren pitwall were internally tussling over a No. 1 and No. 2 title rivalry. But those quips look less humorous after the 19th race of the year.
The past two months marked Red Bull’s gradual return to form, and its aerodynamic package upgrade successfully put pressure on Ferrari, Mercedes, and, most importantly, McLaren. The U.S. GP upped the ante after both McLarens crashed in the sprint race and neither Norris nor Oscar Piastri could find an answer to Verstappen’s speed.
“Max Verstappen has eroded the advantage of both McLarens,” F1 commentator Alex Jacques said as squares of red, white and blue confetti rained down on the top three finishers. And he was correct. Just 40 points away from Piastri’s championship lead, Verstappen sprints closer to a fifth title.
Against all odds, Verstappen’s surprise championship upset has become a gem among routine storylines detailing McLaren team orders and Ferrari meltdowns. What should be an improbable feat as Verstappen closes the gap to Norris, a driver with 15 podiums just this season, is now becoming a real possibility. Even Verstappen is slowly allowing himself to believe it: “The chance is there.”
What seemed like potentially a throwaway season for Red Bull is experiencing its very own “Max Verstappen Effect.” In other words, if Verstappen’s record-breaking season wasn’t convincing enough that he lives up to his nickname, maybe doing it all over again with a fraction of the wins will.
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