2025 title? Ecclestone’s bold come-from-behind prediction against ‘cocky’ Norris

Max Verstappen will win the F1 2025 World title.

That’s the bold prediction from former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who believes Verstappen will overturn his 12-point deficit in Abu Dhabi to become only the second driver in the sport’s history to win five championships on the trot.

“Over-confident, too cocky” Lando Norris will lose the title to Max Verstappen

Having trailed then-championship leader Oscar Piastri by 104 points after round 15 of the campaign, the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen and Red Bull have implemented a remarkable turnaround in form that sees the Red Bull driver head into the season finale second in the standings.

The reigning World Champion not only trails Lando Norris by 12 points, but he’s turned Piastri’s 104-point lead into a four-point deficit with one round remaining.

It means a top-three result at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday could see Verstappen become a five-time World Champion, depending of course where title leader Norris finishes.

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Former F1 supremo Ecclestone believes the 28-year-old can pull it off.

Speaking to Daily Mail Sport, he said: “I still believe Max will do it. He deserves it.

“I used to say Alain Prost was the best driver of all time, doing it on his own without a radio to the pit wall telling him what to do, but I think Max is the best I have known. He stands alone.”

The 95-year-old reckons Norris, despite leading the standings, will trip himself up in Abu Dhabi as the mistakes that blighted his first half of the season return.

“Lando is fine,” Ecclestone continued, “a really good driver, but he is over-confident, too cocky, believing his own publicity, but he gets nervous at crunch moments and can’t quite deliver the way Max can when the pressure is on.

“I said from the start of the season that Max would do it in the end, and I still believe that is the case.”

McLaren too, he says, has done itself in with its papaya regulations that Ecclestone says have favoured Norris “over” Piastri.

“McLaren have been very helpful to Lando over Oscar, supporting him over the other guy, such as changing them around in Monza after Lando had a bad pit stop, and that way of working may yet be good for them, I don’t know,” he said.

“It’s not what I would have done. A bad pit stop is part of racing. You have to accept it, not engineer it.

“But you can never bet against Max. He is something special. He is one-off, and a super-nice guy, and I hope he gets the job done.

“He has nothing to lose, so that is also an advantage, too.”

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