Title fight ‘just Oscar or Lando’ despite Max Verstappen surge

Charles Leclerc has downplayed Max Verstappen’s revived form, insisting the 2025 world championship will still come down to McLaren’s duo.

After Verstappen backed up his Monza pole-and-win double with another dominant weekend in Baku, Leclerc acknowledged Red Bull’s progress.

"I don’t think Max is leaving anything behind, I’m sure of that," the Ferrari driver said. "They’ve definitely made a step forward with the car and are now at a very high level. It’s close between McLaren and Red Bull, and I think Max is doing fantastically at the moment. So congratulations to him.

"The last two weekends haven’t been strong from McLaren, but I don’t think Red Bull will dominate again."

Verstappen remains 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri and 44 behind Lando Norris. "I’d be surprised if Max becomes champion," Leclerc admitted. "It’s just going to be Oscar or Lando this year."

The 27-year-old also rejected Liberty Media’s push for more radical format changes. "In my opinion, the number of sprint weekends we have is sufficient. I wouldn’t necessarily want more," he said. On reverse grids, he was also blunt:

"At least not on a normal weekend. You could consider it for the sprints, but it’s really not something that should be part of Formula 1’s DNA."

As for the proposal about shorter grands prix on Sundays, Leclerc insisted: "I don’t think we need to reinvent anything."

Teammate Lewis Hamilton, however, struck a different tone. "I like sprint weekends," said the seven-time world champion.

"Years ago, I complained about how we had the same weekend structure every time. I think sprints are pretty fun. These weekends are more intense due to the smaller number of practice sessions.

"Fans also like this format. From an entertainment standpoint, there are some stages where it would be great to have sprint races."