Fernando Alonso rates Max Verstappen’s 2025 F1 title chances if he drove for Racing Bulls

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Max Verstappen’s reign as the F1 drivers’ champion looks set to end in 2025, with the Red Bull ace trailing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 97 points before the Dutch Grand Prix.

Four-time reigning champion Verstappen will race on home soil at Zandvoort on Sunday. But he can only, at best, edge slightly under three Grand Prix wins without any reply from Piastri in the standings, even if the 27-year-old were to get a record-equalling fourth Dutch GP win.

Verstappen only trails Jim Clark as the most successful driver in the history of F1’s Dutch GP, having won at Zandvoort in 2021, 2022 and 2023. McLaren man Lando Norris won the 2024 Dutch GP after overtaking Verstappen, who will start from third on the grid in the 2025 race.

Norris also holds an 88-point lead over Verstappen in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship, as he and Piastri fight to hand McLaren their first title since 2008. Verstappen does not believe he can win the 2025 F1 title, even with 274 points in play with 10 rounds remaining, as well.

Fernando Alonso thinks Max Verstappen would be a 2025 F1 title contender with Racing Bulls

But while Verstappen is unlikely to see out the 2025 F1 season as a title contender to Piastri and Norris, Fernando Alonso thinks the Dutchman would be if he drove for Red Bull’s junior team Racing Bulls. The Aston Martin driver is very impressed with Racing Bulls’ car this year.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Isack Hadjar proved the potential of the VCARB 02 with the 20-year-old’s result in qualifying for the 2025 Dutch GP on Saturday, as the Racing Bulls rookie took P4. He will start Sunday’s race on the same row of the Zandvoort grid as Verstappen, as the Red Bull star qualified P3.

Both Racing Bulls drivers even reached Q3 at Zandvoort, with Liam Lawson qualifying P8 for the Dutch GP. Verstappen will carry Red Bull after Yuki Tsunoda only qualified P12 with a Q2 lap time of 1:09.622 – 0.5s slower than Verstappen, 0.239s to Lawson and 0.183s to Hadjar.

Alonso told AS: “Racing Bulls always have a plane. If Verstappen were in that car, he’d be fighting for the world championship. We saw it at the beginning of the year with Tsunoda, who was always in the top six and then suddenly missed out on Q1.”

Red Bull will not let Max Verstappen drive the Racing Bulls VCARB 02

Tsunoda qualified P5 for the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, P8 for the Sprint in Shanghai and P9 for the Chinese Grand Prix with Racing Bulls, before Red Bull promoted the 25-year-old to replace Lawson. Red Bull have only seen Tsunoda make Q3 three times since.

READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation

The Japanese ace reached Q3 for Red Bull at the Bahrain Grand Prix (P10), Saudi Arabian GP (P8) and Miami GP (P10). Tsunoda even qualified last in Imola and Spain, 18th in Austria and 16th in Hungary. Hadjar and Lawson have reached Q3 nine and four times since the switch.

It has been said throughout the 2025 season that the Racing Bulls VCARB 02 is a nicer car to drive compared to the Red Bull RB21. The junior team’s car is more docile and offers a wider operating window, while Verstappen has to dance the Red Bull RB21 on the edge every lap.

It has also been suggested that Verstappen should sample the VCARB 02 to be able to help Red Bull and Racing Bulls improve. But Red Bull will not let Verstappen test in Racing Bulls’ car, as the Milton Keynes squad fear using their unique position would rile other F1 teams.