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By Saajan Jogia
Sports Contributing Writer
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Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen have mostly struggled through the 2025 season, leading him to rank third in the Drivers' Standings. However, the Dutchman's dominance was highlighted once again at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leading many to question if it is mathematically possible for him to secure his fifth championship title this year.
Currently, Verstappen's points tally stands at 255, 44 points behind Lando Norris' tally of 299 points, who is placed second in the standings. Championship leader Oscar Piastri has amassed 324 points thus far and holds a 25-point lead over Norris, despite the incident at Baku that knocked him out of the race on the opening lap.
The remaining seven rounds of the 2025 season have 199 points on offer, given the three sprint races that are yet to be ticked off this season, which makes the prospect of Verstappen claiming another title a possibility, especially since the gap to Piastri is 69 points.
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However, that would not only require Verstappen to win every race, but it would also require McLaren to remain on the back foot. The chances of this happening are close to nil, a point which the Red Bull driver acknowledged after his victory at Baku. He told Sky Sports F1:
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"It's seven races to go, and it's still 69 points. It's a lot.
"Basically, everything needs to go perfectly from my side, and then I need a bit of [bad] luck from their side [McLaren] as well. So, it's still very tough."
Verstappen is not new to starting races from pole position and finishing them in the same place. This strength keeps him in the championship mix, and it is weekends like Baku that matter most to him, especially since McLaren lost crucial points due to Piastri's crash and Norris' P7 finish.
Starting the Azerbaijan GP on pole, Verstappen executed a flawless race to the end, finishing the race with a massive margin of nearly 15 seconds over runner-up driver George Russell. Newsweek Sports reported his comments after the race:
"This weekend has been incredible for us. Monza was already great but for us to win here is fantastic. The car was working really well on both compounds. We had clean air all the time, so you could look after your tyres, and it was pretty straightforward.
"It's never easy around here, very windy today, so the car was moving around a lot. I'm incredibly happy with this performance."
After winning his second consecutive race, Verstappen was asked if Red Bull would be able to carry this momentum forward. He said:
"It's difficult to say at the moment but, for sure, the last two weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore is a challenge again with the high downforce."
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