2025 is F1’s most polite title battle ever – Up/Down in Austria
Describing this year's championship race as a 'battle' might be slightly over-egging it, writes James Elson
Between donuts, burnouts and what Red Bull describes as ‘general hoopla’, Max Verstappen has unofficially obliterated the lap record at Zandvoort during a Red Bull Live Demo event.
In front of a large home crowd, the Dutchman lapped the Zandvoort Circuit in Red Bull’s RB8, which led Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles in 2012. The former Zandvoort F3 Masters winner set an unofficial lap record time of 1m19.511s, over three seconds quicker than Klaas Zwart’s previous record set in a BOSS GP car in 2014 and 11 seconds faster than the F3 lap record, set by Jules Bianchi in 2009.
Verstappen is no stranger to entertaining at Red Bull’s sometimes outlandish publicity events. Last year he charged down a Kitzbühel ski run at the Red Bull-backed Hahnenkamm skiing festival in Red Bull’s 2011 RB7.
It’s yet another record for the high-achieving young Dutchman.
Describing this year's championship race as a 'battle' might be slightly over-egging it, writes James Elson
You had to read between the lines at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix as George Russell dropped hints over about his dissatisfaction, and F1 sent a message to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem
From zero to hero: in a pacy McLaren, at one of his favourite F1 circuits, Lando Norris picked himself up from a disastrous Canadian race to reign supreme in the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix
Full F1 schedule for the year, including the next F1 race of 2025: the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the whole calendar and circuit guides for the 24-race Formula 1 season