Max Verstappen is not readily thinking about going for seven or eight F1 titles, as he talks about chances of championship in 2025 or not.
Having won four F1 titles, Red Bull’s Verstappen is now only behind Lewis Hamilton & Michael Schumacher – both of whom have won seven world championships – and Juan Manuel Fangio, who has five against his name. He can join the Argentine in 2025 if the car helps him to.
The fourth title didn’t come easy for Verstappen, who started dominantly but fell through after Red Bull’s updates didn’t bear fruit. That period of dominance eventually helped the Dutchman to secure the championship but the fifth one in 2025 will be without that dominant period.
The fight from McLaren and or Ferrari and even Mercedes will be on, right from the start of 2025 season. To achieve fifth and dream on to get to Hamilton and Schumacher’s number will need momentum as Verstappen describes it as. He’s not really thinking about eight titles anyhow.
“You need to have that momentum as well,” said Verstappen. “You need to have the right team to be able to achieve that for a long period of time. It’s not something that I set out to do. Of course, if it happens, it happens. But I’m already very proud to win four. I mean, at the end of the day, winning one or seven, it’s the same thing, right?
“But, of course, if you can repeat it a few times, that is very nice. And, of course, I know that if we have that opportunity again, I mean, even with not the fastest car, we still won it, so I always know that when I sit in the car, I’m going to give it everything I have. And of course, over the last few years, I also grew as a driver and you definitely become more all around.
“So in a way, of course, also very excited to see what we can do in 2025. It’s very unknown at the moment, of course, how competitive we are going to be,” summed up Verstappen, who knows Red Bull won’t give up so easily and they will work hard behind the scenes to try and win both the championships in 2025. There will be pressure but the hard learning of 2024 will be useful.
“What I know is that the team doesn’t give up,” continued Verstappen. “There are a lot of very competent people and I really enjoy working with them. I know it’s been tough for them as well. You know, there was a lot of pressure on them this year. And when you come out of a season like last year, where basically we broke every record and then at one point, you know, you start to struggle with the car and you don’t really seem to understand what is going on or what is going wrong.
“It’s important to remain calm and try to fix it. Every person in the team has their own emotions that you have to deal with. So in a way, it’s also people management because everyone reacts a little bit different to good results or bad results. But that’s something that I enjoy as well because everyone has their own character, but we all have to work together to the same end goal.
“I’m very proud of how everyone stuck together in those very tough races where we came out a bit lost. Then we got back at the factory, there were a lot of analysis going on. Just the response from that, I think when we went to Austin, after really understanding our issues from, let’s say, Monza, to see already an upturn in performance and a lot of ideas for 2025
“ A few things we couldn’t change anymore this year, so that is something for next year, and I just hope that that makes the car more driveable, in general, of course, more competitive. But I also, of course, know that the other ones are not sitting still, so next year is going to be, I think, a big battle. But like I said before, even when you’re not the quickest, if you just keep maximising those results, a lot is possible,” summed up Verstappen.
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