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When Max Verstappen crossed the line to take his fifth victory of the season at the United States Grand Prix, he reignited the title fight and set up a nail-biting run to the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. However, while the result was the neutral fan’s dream, it overshadowed a growing problem that is clouding the 2025 season. The issue was summarised perfectly by George Russell in his chat with Sky Sports F1 reporter Rachel Brookes. “Right now in F1 it's a race to Turn One,” he said. “There's no tyre degradation, there's only three tenths between the quickest car and the slowest car in the top six. “Normally, you need at least half a second to overtake, so if I came out of Turn One in P3, I'd have been on the podium today. But instead I came out in P6 and I finished P6.” F1’s tyre problem was on full display amidst the only notable battle for significant point-paying positions on Sunday. Lando Norris lost second place to Charles Leclerc at the race start and, despite running in DRS range of the Ferrari while on medium compound tyres, struggled to pass the Monegasque racer as he wore down his soft Pirelli rubber. Unfortunately, F1 races in 2025 have tended to follow a familiar pattern: driver qualifies on pole position, driver holds the lead into Turn One, a short period of battling ensues before the tyres go off, and then the field spreads out as tyres overheat and management kicks in for a one-stop strategy. This has not been optimal for fan entertainment and has perhaps contributed to the overwhelmingly negative perception of what has actually been a close and captivating World Championship battle between Norris, Oscar Piastri, and now Verstappen as well. Russell isn’t the only key paddock figure to voice his concerns. Fred Vasseur raised concerns that the 2025 season would devolve into a ‘qualifying championship’ back in April, and his fears have, for the most part, been realised. In fact, 13 of the 19 Grands Prix so far this season have been won from pole position, including each of the last four, and battles for the lead have been scarce. These statistics would be even more severe if it were not for Verstappen’s seven poles, many of which came in inferior machinery. According to Russell, tyres are the culprit. “The thing is now when there's no tyre degradation, there's no tyre delta,” he explained. “Every track we go to, you need at least half a second to overtake, so that's why you're not seeing any overtakes. I don't even remember the last two-stop race.” The 27-year-old did denote an understanding of the troubles facing Pirelli, adding: “Pirelli get a very hard time, they do their best, they have given us a substantially better tyre, like this tyre is very good, but it causes bad racing.” At the moment, Verstappen’s resurgence is papering over the cracks, but if the 2026 World Championship follows a similar path, F1 will need to finally dial in their tyre troubles.
