Formula 1: The one weakness Max Verstappen's rivals can actually exploit

If Max Verstappen retired today, you could make a solid argument that he's already on the Mount Rushmore of Formula 1 drivers, as one of the absolute best drivers in the sport's history.

Whether it be from a statistical standpoint with four world championships, 63 Grand Prix wins, and a laundry list of records to his name, a raw skill standpoint, his race craft and ability to perfectly walk the line of the regulations, or the "win at all costs" mentality he possesses, the flying Dutchman is already in the conversation.

In a 2024 season during which Verstappen, for the most part, didn't have the best car from the sixth race onwards, yet still brilliantly won the world championship with two races to go, it would be easy to feel like the guy simply has no weaknesses, and that the only thing that could stop him is a wave of mechanical failures.

For as brilliant and nearly flawless as his 2024 campaign was, one very big weakness of Verstappen's came to light.

Verstappen, while heralded for his insane talent behind the wheel, is also very known for his fiery personality. Right from the start of his Formula 1 career at the age of 17 in 2015, Verstappen has found himself at the center of numerous controversies, wars of words, and confrontations.

These include earning a community service sentence for shoving Esteban Ocon in parc ferme in Brazil in 2018, criticizing Lewis Hamilton's celebrations at Silverstone in 2021 after their collision on the opening lap, going against team orders to let Sergio Perez past in Brazil in 2022 to get back at the Mexican after his antics in Monaco qualifying earlier that year, refusing to answer questions in the press conference at Singapore this past season because of his fine for swearing, and even flat out implying that George Russell is a two-faced fake after the Qatar Grand Prix.

This fire often brings out the best in the four-time world champion, including in select races this past season. His sensational drive from P17 to P1 in Sao Paulo will go down as one of the absolute best in the history of the sport, one that arguably saved his world championship from coming under serious threat, and it all stemmed from his frustration with the controversially late red flag in qualifying which cost him a spot in Q3.

However, this personality trait of Verstappen's has also brought out his worst on several occasions.

During the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen was furious on the radio for the entire race. First, he was miffed at being forced to give Lando Norris P2 after passing him off the race track at the start. Then he was mad with his car's poor balance of grip. Then he was furious with the team for allowing him to be undercut by Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

It all culminated in him making a clumsy divebomb on Hamilton at turn one for P3, sending Verstappen up in the air after the contact before he came crashing down and even lost P4.

Later in the season in Mexico, Verstappen blatantly forced Norris off the track at turn four, and when Norris cut the track and stayed ahead, the Red Bull driver, seemingly in a rage about Norris "unfairly" gaining a position on him, pulled off a huge divebomb at turn seven and drove the pair of them several yards off the track. The two incidents earned Verstappen 20 seconds in penalties, which ruined his weekend.

What do both of these incidents have in common? Verstappen cost himself dearly by letting his emotions get the best of him.

Having seen this multiple times now, Verstappen's closest rivals should take notes and use this weakness against him in 2025.

When you're going up against someone like Verstappen, it's going to be incredibly tough to beat him, especially if you have to go up against him wheel to wheel.

With that in mind, drivers around him will need to do everything in their power to try to put him at a disadvantage to help themselves. What better way to put him at a disadvantage than to force him to, for lack of better words, hurt himself?

Getting into Verstappen's head and getting this anger to come out of him is key, because as we have seen numerous times now, this will force a driver who rarely ever makes mistakes to, in fact, make mistakes.

Whether it be racing him the way he races others, getting to the apex first and immediately driving his opponent off the circuit, having a teammate hold him up during a pit stop phase and force him into a desperate, unauthorized move, or even going off-strategy to get him thinking and losing a touch of focus, these things can be done to anger and unsettle the man who is simply unbeatable when settled.

An important thing to consider is that the FIA were much harsher when it came to how they distributed penalties during the final handful of races in 2024, something that bit Verstappen severely in both Mexico and in Abu Dhabi after his lap one, turn one collision with Oscar Piastri.

If another driver can force him into getting himself a penalty, which seems to be much easier to do, it will be a bigger detriment to him and a bigger help to that driver, maybe more than ever before in 2025.

As the saying often goes, "cooler heads prevail". Should the fight for the 2025 world championship be a toss-up between as many as six or seven drivers like many think it could be, this entire dynamic could be a huge advantage to a champion and legend in Hamilton, who also has experience in a title fight against Verstappen, or a very calculated, super calm force in Piastri, who never gets rattled by anyone or anything.

One thing is absolutely clear, though. Nobody is going to beat Verstappen with the same old formula we've seen from the past four years.

If your cars are on the same level, he's going to beat you, and by any means necessary, just like in 2021. If his car is better than yours, he will never, ever give you a sniff, just like in 2022 and especially in 2023. And even if you have a better car than he does, his talent and consistency will likely be too much for you to match without a monstrous advantage, just like in 2024.

If anyone wants to have a chance at stopping Verstappen from becoming just the second driver ever to win five titles in a row, they can’t just apply pressure to Verstappen. They need to almost go out of their way to exploit the Dutchman's one and only weakness to no end.

It will either continue to haunt him, or, for the first time in his entire racing career, force him to change his currently undefeated approach.