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Raymond Vermeulen has suggested that Max Verstappen had almost given up on the 2025 championship earlier in the season. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda and The Race in Qatar, the Red Bull driver’s manager admitted that the title fight is now McLaren's to lose.
Verstappen’s victory in Qatar has dramatically tightened the battle heading into the season finale, cutting Lando Norris’ lead to 12 points. For much of the year, the Dutchman had been nowhere near the top of the standings. But a late-season resurgence, sparked by Red Bull’s major step forward with the RB21 upgrade introduced at Monza, has put McLaren under pressure and pulled Verstappen firmly back into contention.
Vermeulen believes Max Verstappen is fully aware of what is required to clinch his fifth world championship. However, he sidestepped questions about whether the lack of a competitive teammate has made his task more difficult this season. Yuki Tsunoda has scored only 33 points, leaving him largely absent from the sharp end of races and unable to offer meaningful support in Verstappen’s title push.
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Asked by Sportkseeda if Max Verstappen had a huge psychological edge going into the season finale, Vermeulen replied:
"No, but I think we were basically out of the championship. It was done, it was dusted. So basically there was nothing to lose and that is a bit of the mentality of the team. Everything, what we do is a bonus now and it's up to McLaren to lose it. And for us, if we win it, we will take it, and it's up to McLaren to lose it. And for us, if we win it, we will take it, our hands.”
Asked if it is frustrating that the Dutchman does not have a competitive second gunner to aid him in the championship, he replied:
“The facts are, the facts as we are now. I think Max has to win and Lando has to be P4. So everything in between and this championship goes to Lando.”
Asked if Max Verstappen has ever been tempted to make the decision on his teammate himself, Vermeulen replied:
“I think Max is, Max knows exactly what he's doing. He's having his own race and he will give it all and the outcome will be the outcome. As simple as that.”
Raymond Vermeulen pinpoints what Max Verstappen needs to win his fifth championship
Raymond Vermeulen believes Max Verstappen will throw everything into the final race of the season as he hunts a fifth consecutive world title. Speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi showdown, Verstappen’s manager acknowledged that McLaren traditionally performs strongly at Yas Marina, suggesting the championship was theirs to lose.
The Dutchman has capitalised on several costly errors by McLaren in recent rounds. While his win in Las Vegas was a straightforward lights-to-flag victory, the Qatar GP was widely seen as Oscar Piastri’s race to lose. A strategic miscalculation for both McLaren drivers handed Verstappen the opportunity to close the gap and move up to second in the standings, 12 points behind Lando Norris.
Vermeulen added that Red Bull would need more than “friends on the grid” to overturn the deficit, pushing back against suggestions that rivals might assist Verstappen’s title bid. Addressing the recent controversy over claims that Kimi Antonelli helped Norris in Qatar, he emphasized that those comments did not actually reflect the events on the track. Helmut Marko had accused the Mercedes teenager of helping their rivals intentionally during the Qatar race.
Asked by Sportskeeda if Max Verstappen would need help from other drivers and friends on the grid at the season finale, Vermeulen said:
“Yeah, but I think we meet more than just friends. You know, the McLaren is quick. They have been quick every time in Abu Dhabi, so it will be in their hands, basically. So it's up to them to make the mistakes and to give it away. But we will not leave an inch on the table, so we give it all.
Asked what he thought about Helmut Marko’s comment on Kimi Antonelli, Vermeulen said:
“No I think it's You know In this paddock they like to tease each other a bit But I think that he made a mistake what I saw he had a slip and he went a bit wide unfortunate. But yeah that is what it is.”
Max Verstappen sits 12 points behind Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings, with Oscar Piastri a further two points behind the Dutchman. This is only the third time in F1 history that a multi-driver title fight has gone down to the final race. The last instances were in 2007, when Kimi Räikkönen snatched the championship from McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, and in 2010, when Sebastian Vettel prevailed over Mark Webber, Alonso, and Hamilton in a four-way showdown.
Norris holds the advantage heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, with three drivers still in contention and momentum swinging wildly in recent weeks, the season finale is set to be one of the most dramatic of its generation.
