Verstappen realistically still in the 2025 F1 Drivers' title fight?

Red Bull's four-time F1 world champion ended an uncharacteristic eight-race winless run with victory at Monza, but remains well adrift of the McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the standings. Herbert, a Grand Prix and Le Mans winner turned pundit, thinks Verstappen cannot be ruled out just yet.

“There is always a chance. As we saw with Oscar and Lando and how close that battle was, one little mishap makes a big difference. So, it could potentially bring Max much closer to that battle with Oscar,” Herbert explained. “Do we really expect McLaren to suddenly suffer reliability issues? I’d be very surprised, but this is racing and it does happen.”

He recalled Norris’s costly incident in Holland as an example: “You only need for example that one squeeze with Max and Lando to go slightly awry and one of them or both of them could have gone out of the race. So, there are still those risks that are part of it.”

McLaren finished second and third at Monza behind Verstappen’s Red Bull, despite a pit-stop blunder for Norris, and Herbert stressed that the margins remain fine.

Herbert told Adventure Gamers media team: “I think we’re seeing a very shrewd Oscar. Max still has a very outside chance. All he can do is keep himself out of trouble, win those races and then it’s down to a little bit of luck coming your way.

“I think there’s an outside chance, yes. They still have the car that can do it, but can it do it at all the tracks that are remaining? That’s probably the biggest question mark. It was a bad weekend for McLaren but they finished second and third," Herbert pointed out.

Verstappen’s Monza win was his fifth of the season, but McLaren’s consistency has kept them comfortably ahead. Piastri leads the championship, with Norris and Verstappen behind him in the standings, and Ferrari watching from further back.

Herbert also reflected on the McLaren team orders controversy in Italy, when McLaren instructed Piastri to let Norris through in the final laps after his teammate lost time with a slow stop.

“Piastri needs McLaren to win and they reminded him of that with team orders,” said Herbert. “It’s not the first time we’ve seen it in Formula One. It’s becoming a bigger thing now because it’s all about the team."

The British racing veteran continued: "It wasn’t Lando’s fault but as Oscar said, ‘Well that’s racing.’ And he’s right because that’s how racing goes. It doesn’t always go smoothly in a race situation.”

Herbert noted that the situation tested Piastri’s priorities: “It comes down to the selfishness of the driver and how much you want to have that world championship. In my head, if I had that trophy on my mantelpiece at the end of the year and the team had got rid of me because I had not followed orders, I’d rather have that trophy on that mantelpiece and lose my drive. That’s what we race for. We race to win that world championship.”

Comparing mindsets, Herbert added: “Max, I think, would probably play hard and so would [Herbert's former teammate] Michael Schumacher. It can cause very heavy damage in effect. McLaren are trying to make it as fair as they possibly can, but racing is racing.

"Racing is not always kind. When I was racing, there was a team, but we were the drivers. And it was almost handed over to us to do what we could. Sometimes it went right, sometimes it went wrong. Team orders now are not the pure racing, and I think that’s what Oscar would say," ventured Herbert.