2025-12-07 12:35:35
Max Verstappen is “quite surprised” that he still has the chance to win the 2025 F1 title.
The Red Bull driver is 12 points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris (with Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri also still in title contention) heading into Sunday’s (07.12.25) season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and is amazed to still have the opportunity to win a fifth world crown – having been over 100 points behind in the drivers’ championship at the end of August.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Verstappen said: “Normally, when you’re that far down – and of course also up until that point, it was just going up, up, up right? So, there’s no real clue to it at the same time that we could turn it around or at least close that gap drastically.
“But we did, and that’s something that we’re very proud of. And I’m happy to be in that fight until the end. It also keeps me exciting, I guess, for everyone that it is not only between the two drivers of one team. That’s always better when there is another team involved.”
Verstappen has been likened to a horror movie villain by McLaren’s team boss Zak Brown and the Dutch racer believes his imposing position in the sport has come through years of consistent performance.
The 70-time Grand Prix winner said: “I know that I will never give up. I know that I always try and extract the most out of it.
“Can I be beaten on the day? For sure. I mean, everyone can be beaten on the day, but can you beat me 24 races in a year? No. That’s something that if you want to fight for a championship, that is something that you have to keep up, and that’s the hardest bit.”
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