Throughout the latter three of his four consecutive World Championships, Max Verstappen has had the fastest car on the grid, by some distance.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, his Red Bull was well clear of the rest of the field, and he duly delivered the goods by winning 34 out of a possible 44 races. In 2024, he had the fastest car throughout the first half of the campaign and built up a big enough lead to claim a fourth consecutive title.
However, through the back end of last year, McLaren roared back to life with a series of upgrades that saw them suddenly having the fastest car on track. Unfortunately for the British team, lead driver Lando Norris couldn’t hold it together to mount a series title comeback, allowing Verstappen to claim a fourth straight crown.
Verstappen’s championship chances
This year, the Papaya rocket ship is the fastest car on the grid once again, and this time around, it looks like McLaren is getting things right. They have won six of the opening eight races in 2025, with Norris winning twice and teammate Oscar Piastri racking up a further four. However, despite being in a far slower car, Verstappen has won the other two races, and he seems unwilling to relinquish his crown just yet.
Online odds providers certainly feel like the Dutch superstar isn’t going down without a fight. The latest online Formula 1 odds currently make the reigning champion a live +300 third favourite for the title, narrowly behind the two McLaren drivers, with Piastri leading the way at +120.
Verstappen’s performances so far this term have been sensational, and they have done plenty to dispel his critics who claimed that he could only win with the fastest car on the grid. However, if he is to sustain his efforts throughout the campaign, it will take a herculean effort, especially considering just how much slower his RB21 is than the McLaren MCL39.
Luckily for him, some drivers have managed to remain in contention despite being nowhere near the fastest cars on the grid.
Fernando Alonso’s debut campaign with Ferrari
Fernando Alonso’s 2010 season remains one for the ages. He moved to Ferrari from Renault at the start of the season, replacing outgoing 2007 champion Kimi Räikkönen, but no one truly expected the Spaniard to mount a serious title challenge.
The Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had emerged as the fastest car on the grid and by some distance throughout the back end of the 2009 season, while the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were somewhat faster than the Scuderia.
Despite Ferrari lacking the outright pace of the Adrian Newey-designed RB6, Alonso managed to sustain his challenge right till the very end of the season, even heading into the final race of the campaign as the championship leader. He racked up victories in the season opener in Bahrain, Germany, and in front of an adoring Ferrari crowd in Italy, but it was his drive in Korea, where inclement weather caused chaos, that showed just how fierce a competitor he was.
With both Red Bulls crashing out of that race, Alonso managed to keep his cool and put himself on the brink of glory. Unfortunately for him, the Ferrari pit wall made a catastrophic error in the Abu Dhabi finale, pitting Alonso early and ultimately ending up with him stuck behind Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. The mistake handed Vettel the title, and left their maverick Spaniard wondering what might have been.
More heartbreak for the Spaniard
Two years later, Alonso found himself in a near-identical situation. This time around, Vettel wasn’t a young upstart; he was a two-time world champion hunting for a trifecta. To make matters worse, the Spaniard’s Ferrari F2012 wasn’t just slower than the rapid Red Bulls and the McLarens; it was an unruly beast that was hard to tame.
The car’s erratic behaviour saw it start the season as a true midfield runner, yet Alonso’s remarkable driving kept him in the fight all year. He won the second race of the season in Malaysia, before an emotional victory on home turf in Valencia at the height of Spain’s run to Euro 2012 glory had Alonso dreaming that a miracle may well be possible. He managed to win again in Germany and ended the season with seven straight podium finishes, not including retirements.
That took the title fight down to the final race of the season, and once again, it looked like the racing gods were on his side when Vettel spun on the opening lap and ended up at the back of the field. Unfortunately for Alonso, though, the German would charge his way back through the grid, securing the sixth-place finish he needed, and claimed the title by just three points.
Robert Kubica battles till the end
In 2008, McLaren and Ferrari were the two dominant forces in Formula 1. They had the fastest cars on the track and by some distance, with BMW Sauber a distant third. However, Polish driver Robert Kubica managed to defy the odds and remain in contention right up until the penultimate race of the campaign.
A maiden victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, the seventh round of the campaign, gave the Pole a shock championship lead. Further podiums in Valencia and at Monza kept him in contention, while a second-place finish in Japan left him 12 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton with just two races remaining.
Considering the fact that Kimi Räikkönen overturned a whopping 17-point deficit at the same point the year prior, Kubica was most certainly in with a shot. However, unlike in 2007, Lady Luck wasn’t on his side like it was with the Iceman. He finished sixth in the second-to-last race in China while Hamilton won, ending his hopes once and for all. But that took nothing away from his extraordinary efforts in just his second full season in Formula 1.
