Having fractionally missed out on his fifth title in 2025, four-time world champion Max Verstappen has “no regrets about his season” despite a “proper rollercoaster with the car.”
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.
Reflecting on his season, Verstappen admitted that he has “no regrets about his season” despite a “proper rollercoaster with the car.”
“I mean, I have no regrets about my season. I think the performance has been strong. I’ve hated this car at times, but I’ve also loved it at times.
“And I always tried to extract the most from it, even in the difficult weekends that we’ve had. But, yeah, it’s been, like I said before, a proper rollercoaster with the car. Luckily, the last, I would say, eight, nine rounds in general have been a lot more enjoyable.
“And also, in the team, we have a great atmosphere at the moment. We’re really on a roll — positive energy, belief, confidence — and that’s exactly what you want heading into next year.