Having controlled the Italian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was even more dominant during yesterday's Azerbaijan race.
Taking pole in spitting and gusty conditions, where other top drivers faltered, the Red Bull driver created an opportunity to breeze to race victory, with Mercedes' George Russell the closest runner to him at the chequered flag, 14 seconds behind.
It was a typical Verstappen weekend, when there was a degree of instability caused by the conditions, he stood up to the threat and maximised his own performance. That is nothing new.
Meanwhile Piastri, the championship leader, oddly crashed out in both Q3 and the race's first lap, while Norris made no discernible progress and was held back by his own Q3 mistake, lacklustre safety car restart and slow pit stop to only finish P7.
Verstappen's pole position on Saturday was his sixth of the season, his Sunday success was his fourth win of the campaign. Now he sits just 69 points behind the championship leader Oscar Piastri, having outscored him by 35 points in the last two races.
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Can the Dutchman still win the 2025 title?
After his victory Verstappen told the media, including skysports.com: "Everything needs to go perfect from my side and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well. So it's still very tough.
"I just go race by race, what I have been doing basically the whole season; just trying to do the best we can, try to score the most points that we can. Then after Abu Dhabi, we'll know."
Red Bull had brought a new floor upgrade to the Italian Grand Prix, which has seemed to garner more positivity from within the team.
However, caution does need to be had, given the back-to-back races in which the world champion dominated. Both Monza and Baku are low-drag circuits with short, sharp corners, as well as limited thermal tyre degradation, which the team have enjoyed more throughout the season.
What will be a test to the title pursuers is how well they go around the next two races, on completely different track layouts. October's Singapore Grand Prix was one that McLaren dominated in 2024, thanks to the high-downforce requirements of a mainly long, slow and medium-speed turns.
And the United States Grand Prix also sees a litany of longer and higher-load turns, increasing the levels of tyre degradation, although there is a spread between high and slow speed.
If the RB21 appears to be a successful car, in the hands of Verstappen, in both of those races, then a fifth world championship for the Dutchman may still be on the cards.
We have been here before
The two most prominent examples from the last 40 years, 1986 and 2007, saw the two drivers in the championship-leading car take points off each other and open the chance for a pursuer to steal the title.
In 1986, Williams had quite considerably the benchmark machinery, but Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell shared the points when they were at their best, while Alain Prost's McLaren overcame that when he was on top.
And in 2007, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton did the same thing, but in the McLaren team, and allowed for a late-season surge from Kimi Raikkonen to seize the championship.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, being so even in terms of performance, will continue to share the points wherever McLaren are in the pecking order. But when Red Bull are fastest, or close to it, you know which driver will be taking the maximum number of points.
Drama on the first lap! 😵
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 21, 2025
Here's Piastri heading into the wall and out of the race ❌#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/SN9cCVjSGL
The level of performance that Verstappen is reaching is also ominous for his McLaren rivals, given that he almost invariably maximises the potential from his car, and rarely leaves massive points on the table.
If the championship nerves started to mount on both McLaren drivers, which is entirely possible, then it gives the Dutchman another edge.
Seven races still remain, and Verstappen is not relenting. Although Piastri and Norris are still the favourites, the next two races could be integral as to how much of a factor the Dutchman plays in the championship.