Max Verstappen is happier after his 2025 season than when he won the Formula 1 title last year – but one particular topic sparked an unexpectedly sharp and angry response from the four-time world champion.
Verstappen missed out on a fifth straight championship despite winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Lando Norris finished third to clinch his maiden title by just two points.
Despite a difficult season in which Red Bull had some especially uncompetitive weekends and even removed erstwhile boss Christian Horner in the middle of the year, the team managed to improve its car enough for Verstappen to claw his way back into title contention.
After missing out by a tiny margin in what was a near-perfect season with only two real errors – getting a penalty for driving into George Russell in Spain and a half-spin in the wet at a restart in the British GP – Verstappen was asked if he regretted the Russell incident at the very end of the Abu Dhabi post-race press conference.
It sparked a suddenly tense exchange in which Verstappen stared back at the journalist in question and there were several seconds of silence punctuating the moment.
“You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season, the only thing you mention is Barcelona,” Verstappen said.
“I knew that would come.”
After a pause Verstappen said “yep”, which preceded an even longer pause – and if it seemed this might just pass as an uncomfortable question prompting an unaccommodating answer, Verstappen made it clear that he was genuinely annoyed when he said: “You’re giving me a stupid grin now.”
“You live and learn,” Verstappen added. “A championship is won over 24 rounds.
“I've also had a lot of early Christmas presents given to me in the second half. So you can also question that.”
That is a reference to the wastefulness of the two McLaren drivers given they had a faster car more often in 2025.
Verstappen has already made it clear he feels he would have won the title much earlier with the McLaren.
He still won more races than either Norris or Oscar Piastri in 2025, and scored more podiums than in his own title-winning 2024 season.
Verstappen had been more than 100 points adrift of then-leader Piastri after the Dutch Grand Prix but mounted an unexpected and stunning fightback thereafter.
That race at Zandvoort was the first in a 10-race podium streak that included six victories.
“I'm sitting here now with probably a better feeling than what I had last year at this time, because the second half of last year was pretty tricky at times as well,” said Verstappen.
“So we've been struggling for a year – the second half of last year, the first half of this year. But I actually feel a lot better now.
“Of course, a shame to miss out on the title, but at the same time, for a long period of time, I was not even thinking about the title. I never felt like I was in it until a few rounds ago. That's pretty crazy.
“You take your pride in different ways. I'm happy with myself and also into next year I'm not in a state of having to worry about my skills or whatever. So I feel good.”
