Why Verstappen believes 2025 remains ‘positive’ even if the title goes to Norris or Piastri

After round 15 at Zandvoort, Verstappen was down by more than a hundred points. But he’s closed that gap since then and even had a few rounds where he looked back in control. Still, his title hopes will be over if Norris extends his lead past a certain point after Vegas.

Verstappen backs Red Bull’s progress in 2025 despite challenging Season

Max Verstappen has praised Red Bull’s progress this season, even as he faces an uphill battle to catch Lando Norris in the title race. He currently sits 49 points behind with three races left and can’t afford to fall more than 58 points back after Las Vegas if he hopes to stay in contention.

Verstappen started the year with two wins in the first seven rounds, then went eight races without a victory before adding three more wins in the following six. Despite the ups and downs, he sees clear progress.

“No matter what happens now, my assessment of 2025 is positive because we’ve consistently managed to improve the car,” Verstappen said via Blick.

Red Bull’s upgrades drag Verstappen back into the 2025 F1 title fight

At the start of this season, Verstappen regularly complained about Red Bull’s through-corner balance problems that made the rear of their RB21 go light, especially under braking, before becoming understeer. Red Bull have since made the issue less severe, but it remains in part.

Verstappen could not understand why his Red Bull was “all over the place” during qualifying for the Sao Paulo GP following a change in set-up after the F1 Sprint in Brazil. The balance of his RB21 meant Verstappen could not attack Interlagos anywhere near the levels he desired.

But a floor upgrade at Monza followed by a front wing update in Singapore saw Red Bull become far more competitive against McLaren’s MCL39. Verstappen won races in Italy and Azerbaijan and finished second in Singapore. He’s also outscored Piastri across all six rounds since then.

McLaren haven’t brought any major upgrades to their car since July’s British Grand Prix, having shifted focus to developing for new regulations coming into play next year.