Max Verstappen’s manager makes Lando Norris thoughts clear with blunt five-word comment | F1 | Sport
Max Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, made it clear that he views the Dutchman as the rightful world champion of 2025 rather than McLaren’s Lando Norris, declaring: “For me, he won it,” when confronted with the Red Bull racer’s title defeat.
Verstappen left the Dutch Grand Prix in late August 104 points behind Oscar Piastri, who was leading the World Championship at the time. The Australian was, in turn, 34 points ahead of Norris, who suffered an unfortunate mechanical DNF while running second in Zandvoort.
When the chequered flag dropped in Abu Dhabi, though, the picture was entirely different. Norris was crowned world champion after finishing two points ahead of Verstappen in the standings, while Piastri dropped to third overall after going winless through the final nine Grands Prix.
Verstappen’s late championship charge was fuelled by a streak of 10 consecutive podium finishes, with six Grand Prix victories in the midst of that run. The four-time world champion even swept the season-ending triple-header, becoming the driver with the most wins in 2025 with eight in total.
Looking back at the Dutchman’s season, it is easy to point to his costly crash with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix as the flashpoint that cost him a fifth consecutive crown, but manager Vermeulen rejects this theory.
“You can say that Kimi [Antonelli] took Max out in Austria,” he told RacingNews365. “And you could say the poor performance we had in Budapest. Look at Lando, he had a DNF in Zandvoort. It’s the game where we win.
“On paper, if you are collecting points, then, of course, you could calculate that we could have won it. But in fairness, we lost it at the start of the season. Max was very often on his own.”
When Vermeulen was asked a follow-on question, framed around the Dutchman missing out on the title, he interjected: “For me, he won it.” Despite finishing second to Norris in the standings, Verstappen’s manager did not place the blame at the feet of Red Bull.
“If you’re fighting with the car, and you can’t get a lap time in, then it gets frustrating,” he continued. “But they turned the wheel around, and they had a new approach. Everyone was very motivated. They kept on developing the car until the last moment. So, the team did a very, very good job.”
