Despite having missed out on his fifth title with just two points, four-time world champion Max Verstappen revealed the reason why he had “a better feeling” at the end of the current season than last year when he came out on top of the standings.
Having struggled with the balance of his car on the opening two days of the Qatar Grand Prix, reigning champion Max Verstappen got a great getaway and pipped championship leader Lando Norris into Turn 1.
The Dutchman elected to pit under the early safety car period which meant that he completed his first mandatory pit stop while his McLaren rivals stayed out.
After Mclaren drivers also completed their two mandatory stops, Verstappen inherited the lead, and he found so much pace during his last stint that Oscar Piastri was unable to challenge him despite being on fresher tyres.
As such, the Dutchman secured his seventh victory of the season and jumped up to second in the Championship which means that he is still in the running for the title ahead of this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda endured a difficult qualifying session, but he managed to make up some positions during the first round of pit stops. Although the Japanese driver looked set to finish outside the points-paying positions, he inherited tenth place due to Isack Hadjar’s late puncture.
Proud of this duo 🫶#F1 || #RedBullRacing pic.twitter.com/t7uzku7yr7
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 11, 2025
Asked when he could take as much pride from this season compared to the pride he took from the last four years when he won the championship, Verstappen revealed that the reason why he had “a better feeling” at the end of the current season than last year.
“I mean, at the end of the day, of course, it’s always nicer to win it. But, honestly, 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.
“So, we have been struggling for, I would say, a year — the second half of last year and the first half of this year. But I actually feel a lot better now.
The Dutchman continued: “Of course, 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.
“But, yeah, you take your pride in different ways. I’m happy with myself and going into next year I’m not in a state of having to worry about my skills or whatever. So, yeah, I feel good.