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Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve did not include either Max Verstappen or Red Bull in his pick for the most logical title contenders in 2025 and instead gone for Lando Norris. The 2024 F1 season was a tough one for the Dutch driver and the Austrian team.
It started with the team going through an internal political turmoil, as team principal Christian Horner was on one side while Helmut Marko and the Verstappen family were seemingly on the opposite side. The season started with a bang for Red Bull as Verstappen picked up from where he had left off in 2023 and dominated the early part of the year.
The McLaren upgrade in Miami changed things because, from that point onwards, Red Bull started regressing. The car was just getting slower, making it harder for Max Verstappen to battle with Lando Norris. The Dutch driver did end up clinching the drivers' title ultimately, as Norris and his team were unable to close the gap fully.
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With that being said, Red Bull had dropped back in terms of performance and was slower than both Ferrari and McLaren when the season came to an end. Talking to Action Network, this was something that Jacques Villeneuve highlighted as he anointed Norris as the logical choice to win the title. He said:
"With the way the season ended, I would give the advantage just a little bit to Lando (Norris) and McLaren. But the problem with that is that there is an internal battle between the drivers. McLaren haven't handled that well and they're not going to handle it well, so the drivers will take points from each other. So even if they should be champions, they might not be."
Talking about Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari and whether he could be a factor, Villeneuve said:
"Lewis could have a chance. He finished well last year. It will be interesting to see the battle between Lewis and Charles Leclerc. Ferrari is pushing Lewis forward a lot at the moment. Either he gets pushed forward and does a great job. Or it doesn't work out and then that motivates Leclerc. It's basically a win-win scenario for Ferrari. Lando should be the most logical title candidate. But because of the internal battle and the fact that McLaren doesn't really know how to solve it, it could still work out in Lewis's favour."
Max Verstappen's team looked over in favor of McLaren and Ferrari
In what was even more interesting, Villeneuve looked over Red Bull in favor of McLaren and Ferrari and felt that those two teams would have drivers that more or less extract the most from the car. At the Austrian team, while one can expect Max Verstappen to be brilliant, Liam Lawson would still be an unknown quantity and could struggle. The Canadian said:
"It will be between McLaren and Ferrari for the constructors' title. The McLaren drivers will not cost the team any points there, only each other. But who even thinks about the constructors? Everyone remembers that Max Verstappen was the champion this year. So in fact Red Bull was the winner. That's how everyone sees it."
In the last four seasons, Max Verstappen has won the driver's title. While this stat has its merits, the fact that Red Bull ended the 2024 F1 season struggling behind McLaren and Ferrari is what would be more concerning for the Dutchman.
