Max Verstappen‘s former mechanic has predicted that the Dutchman will choose to retire from Formula 1 after winning the 2025 World Championship.
Nine rounds into the 2025 F1 season, Verstappen has fallen back dramatically in his bid to secure his fifth consecutive Drivers’ titles amid McLaren’s dominance.
After a steep decline in competitiveness mid-way through the 2024 season, the Milton Keynes-based squad has suffered from similar gremlins with the RB21.
Following the Spanish Grand Prix, the 27-year-old sits 49 points adrift of championship leader, Oscar Piastri.
That said, former Red Bull mechanic and team ambassador Calum Nicholas is confident that Verstappen will overturn the deficit to claim the title this season.
But in doing so, the Red Bull driver will also call it quits on his F1 career, according to Nicholas.
“I think Max is going to win the Drivers’ this year, and then I think he’s going to call it a day,” he predicted on Lucas Stewart’s YouTube channel.
He is also of the firm opinion that, despite the monumental deficit, counting out Verstappen from title contention would be a grave error. “To not back Max is just like lunacy, I think.”
Why Verstappen is still in 2025 title contention
Verstappen’s rise to the top of F1 has been meteoric to say the least. He won his maiden title by dethroning seven-time F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton in 2021.
With the ground effect regulations introduced in 2022, he triumphed once again, emphatically over his closest rival, Charles Leclerc.
The 2023 season, however, was the Dutchman’s most dominant. Not only did he secure his third consecutive F1 title, but he also did so by winning a staggering 19 out of 22 races.
The second half of the 2024 season and this year sees the first time that Verstappen doesn’t have an outright competitive package under his belt.
Yet, he has been pulling stellar results for Red Bull, like his victory in Brazil last year, and wins in Japan and Imola this year with less than comparable machinery.
With the title battle between McLaren team-mates Piastri and Lando Norris bound to intensify as the season progresses, the 27-year-old’s sublime, metronomic consistency could very well be an asset in dismantling McLaren’s firm grip on the title this year. Nicholas backs the Dutchman’s ability to do so.
“The guy is just really really good,” Nicholas added.
“Not in terms of just his technical skill and his talent, but I’ve watched Max grow into this guy that can do everything. He does everything well now,” he explained whilst also clarifying that the infamous ‘cursed second Red Bull seat’ doesn’t really exist and it’s Verstappen who has been making the difference all along.
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Always a pleasure to see such things.