Verstappen: I see it as a race-by-race thing, I'm not too stressed
F1 NewsThursday, 02 October 2025 at 18:52
Max Verstappen said he was happy to take the rest of the 2025 Formula 1 season one race at a time and see how it turns out, despite back-to-back wins in Monza and Baku sparking talk that he could still pull off a fifth straight World Title for Red Bull.
After his victories in the Italian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix, Verstappen trails F1 Championship leader Oscar Piastri by 69 points and the Australian's McLaren teammate Lando Norris by 44.
Verstappen, though, said such a hefty deficit meant he would be able to drive without pressure in the seven races remaining in the season.
"From my side, honestly, I just see it as a race-by-race thing, 69 points is still a lot, especially if you look at how the season has gone so far," he told reporters on Thursday. "I mean, McLaren has been incredibly dominant, that doesn't suddenly change. So for me, I'm not too stressed about anything.
"I'm just enjoying what I'm doing in F1 and outside of it, having fun and just trying to do the best I can every single time that I jump in the car.
"Some tracks naturally will be a bit better for us, some probably a bit worse. If we win it, great, if we don't, we don't. Life goes on.
"I don't know, I'm just not too stressed about anything," the Dutchman insisted.
We have to wait and see Red Bull's competitiveness in Singapore
Singapore with its high downforce and high tyre degradation is one of the tracks Verstappen feels might not suit his car, despite the recent upgrade that fired his two wins.
"We have to wait and see," he added. "I mean, last year we were second, but quite a mile off. So hopefully we'll be just more competitive. And I honestly don't know what that means for us this weekend. We just have to wait."
Verstappen said he was just happy that he could see some improvement in the car after struggling with it for much of the season.
"The car has not always been nice or easy to drive, but lately, it does seem that it's heading in the right direction," he said. "If we can win a few more (races), it would be nice. If that means that we didn't win the championship, then so be it, right?"
Various drivers were asked on Thursday to rate Verstappen's chances of retaining his title with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc offering 20%, Alex Albon of Williams 15% and Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar 10%.
For Verstappen, the mathematics were much simpler; he said: "50%, because I do or I don't."
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