Photo: Race Pictures

F1 LIVE | Hamilton fires Verstappen warning shot at McLaren, Piastri dismisses Verstappen's title charge

07:01, 23 Sep

Updated: 14:30, 23 Sep

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byKada Sarkozi

Stay up to date with the latest Formula 1 news in GPblog's liveblog!

Photo: Race Pictures

F1 LIVE | 23 September

LiveBlog

Can Verstappen contend for the 2025 world title?

Winning back-to-back Grands Prix, Max Verstappen is now 69 points behind Oscar Piastri in the drivers' standings, with seven Grands Prix and three Sprints to go.

In his column for The Telegraph, former technical director Gary Anderson highlighted both McLaren ‘dropping the ball’ in Azerbaijan and a 'flawless' Verstappen as well.

"Other tracks might not suit the RB21, but they will have learned a lot about a set up that suits his driving style and I would not be surprised if he is in contention."

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Talking about his chances, Verstappen commented in Baku: "I don't rely on hope, but it's seven rounds left, and 69 points is a lot. So I personally don't think about it—I just take it race by race, which is what I’ve been doing basically the whole season: trying to do the best we can, trying to score as many points as possible. And then after Abu Dhabi, we'll know."

Alongside his victory in Baku, the Dutchman also had another reason to celebrate: Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen topped the standings in the Gold Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup driving for Verstappen.com Racing.

Horner and Red Bull reach agreement to part ways

An agreement was reached between Christian Horner and Red Bull, officially marking his departure from the team on Monday.

With regard to a potential return to Formula 1, Horner would still have to serve a gardening leave period before taking a leadership role at any team in the series.

Many outlets reported that the former Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal received an £80 million payout following his departure.

GPblog understands that figure to be inaccurate. The sum the former team boss received for his tenure at Red Bull Racing, spanning across two decades, was around 52 million pounds.

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