Max Verstappen won the penultimate round of the 2025 season after starting third on the grid, and his partner, Kelly Piquet, and former boss, Christian Horner, reacted to his victory in Doha. The Dutchman capitalized on McLaren's strategic blunder and reduced his deficit to the top of the championship order by a hefty amount.McLaren seemed to be the outright pace-setter in Qatar. Oscar Piastri was on it during the race weekend and looked set to return to the victory lane for the first time since Zandvoort, but an early safety car threw a spanner in the works.The whole grid, apart from McLaren, decided to utilize this opportunity to make a pit stop, and that's where the Woking-based squad lost the race win. Moreover, this meant Verstappen claimed a stellar race victory, which was his seventh win of the season.He then shared a celebratory post for the race win on his Instagram: View this post on Instagram Instagram PostSubsequently, Christian Horner liked the post:Christian Horner liked the Instagram post of Max Verstappen's 2025 Qatar GP victory | Source: InstagramMeanwhile, Kelly Piquet also liked the post and commented:"❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️"Kelly Piquet's comment on Verstappen's Instagram post | Source: InstagramVerstappen is down 12 points from the championship lead heading into Abu Dhabi.What is Max Verstappen feeling going into an intense title showdown in Abu Dhabi?Red Bull's Max Verstappen after the F1 Grand Prix Of Qatar 2025 - Source: GettyLando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri all arrive at Abu Dhabi within 16 points of each other. While this is the first time that the papaya duo is facing a situation like this at the season finale, Verstappen has prior experience of fighting a championship to the line.When asked about what he feels heading into the championship showdown, he said in the post-race press conference:"No. I’m a lot more relaxed now. I mean, I know that I’m 12 points down. I go in there with just positive energy. I try everything I can. But at the same time, if I don’t win it, I still know that I had an amazing season. So, it doesn’t really matter. It takes a lot of the pressure off.""I’m just out there having a good time like I had today. I also started today with, “We’ll see how it goes.” I know that when I sit in the car, I always try to maximise everything I can. And that’s what I’ll try to do in Abu Dhabi, but at the same time, I also know that we need to rely on probably some external factors to have a go at it. But a race like today shows that when you think it's going to be boring and straightforward—it’s not. So, I’m hoping Abu Dhabi is going to be similar."If Max Verstappen ends up winning the title in Abu Dhabi, this will be his fifth drivers' crown in F1.