Why any champion other than Verstappen in '25 will not be the right one

On several occasions, Max Verstappen said he 'didn't expect' to clinch pole in Japan. But would Verstappen really have been surprised? If anyone on this planet can be deemed capable of delivering extraterrestrial performances in an F1 car, it's the four-time world champion. Verstappen's pole lap was pure class, tackling every corner and kerb as if his life depended on it - as only he can.

Even the superior McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are hopeless when Verstappen summons his very best 'self', which he does more than occasionally. A day like this Saturday once again proves that Verstappen is the best driver on the grid and no one can stand in his shadow.

Unfortunately, Formula 1 is a discipline where the top athlete is largely dependent on his equipment. Even if Max Verstappen is Max Verstappen, he can still face defeat. It happened, for example, two weeks ago in China and it could also happen this Sunday in Japan. That doesn't mean that Verstappen suddenly becomes inferior to Norris or Piastri.

On the contrary. Even in 2025, there is really no other worthy champion than Max Verstappen. If Piastri or Norris takes the glory, all praise to them. But justified? That's different. Norris or Piastri would be champions who benefitted from having the best machinery - for which McLaren is of course to be congratulated! - but the best driver is neither of them. That is Verstappen, as the qualifying session in Japan showed.

This season could easily draw comparisons to 2009, when Jenson Button became champion. Was he the best driver that year? Certainly not, but the double diffuser that the Brit's Brawn had for a long time that season gave Brawn Grand Prix such a technical advantage over the rest of the field that Button ultimately (by the skin of his teeth) ended up on top.

On one hand, this is the charm of Formula 1, an outsider who can become champion through his team's technical marvel. But it also has something unjust to it, if not truly the best driver wins the top prize. This could easily happen in 2025, if Max Verstappen doesn't take the prize he most deserves.