Max Verstappen declares winning F1 title ‘doesn’t matter’ as surprising admission made | F1 | Sport
Max Verstappen has declared that it ‘doesn’t really matter’ if he wins the World Championship or not, because he knows that he has maximised his results throughout the 2025 campaign.
The reigning world champion was over 100 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri after the Australian won the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, but after stringing together a run of nine consecutive podium finishes with five wins in that run, Verstappen heads into the season finale just 12 points behind Lando Norris in third.
With just one race remaining and three drivers in contention, Verstappen has the upper hand when it comes to mentality. Whereas Norris and Piastri have been preoccupied with considering the title battle all season, the Dutchman has nothing to lose, and this is evident in his relaxed demeanour in the paddock.
“I’m a lot more relaxed now,” he said after punching in his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season. “I mean, I know that I’m 12 points down. I go in there with just positive energy. I try everything I can.
“But at the same time, if I don’t win it, I still know that I had an amazing season. So, it doesn’t really matter. It takes a lot of the pressure off. I’m just out there having a good time like I had today. I also started today with ‘we’ll see how it goes’. I know that when I sit in the car, I always try to maximise everything I can.
“And that’s what I’ll try to do in Abu Dhabi, but at the same time, I also know that we need to rely on probably some external factors to have a go at it. But a race like today shows that when you think it’s going to be boring and straightforward, it’s not. So, I’m hoping Abu Dhabi is going to be similar.”
For Verstappen and Piastri, the task is clear. They need to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and hope that Norris finds himself under pressure, mired deep in the field. With a 12-point buffer in hand, the Brit only needs to finish third to win the title on Sunday.
In Qatar, the Bristol-born driver finished fourth and was fortunate to inherit that position from Kimi Antonelli, who was defending hard on worn tyres and made a mistake on the penultimate lap.
However, Norris believes it was a team strategy mishap, rather than Red Bull’s impressive pace, that handed Verstappen the win. “I think they were just as quick today as they were yesterday [in the sprint race],” he stated. “It’s just they did a better job as a team and made the right call.”
