Red Bull star Max Verstappen goes into the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP with a shot at the title, trailing Lando Norris by 12 points. The Dutchman came out after the Qatar GP and detailed that he would've won the title long ago had he been in a McLaren. Zak Brown came out at the Abu Dhabi GP and reacted to Verstappen's claim.Max Verstappen was over 100 points behind the championship leader after the Dutch GP, and many considered his title chase to be over. However, the then title leader Oscar Piastri fell out of form after the Azerbaijan GP, and McLaren made some questionable decisions, including the Papaya rules at the Italian GP.Lando Norris needed to win the Qatar GP to seal the title, but McLaren made a disastrous strategic call at Lusail not to pit under the safety car, which fumbled both Norris' and Piastri's races. Max Verstappen won the race and closed the gap to the Briton down to just 12 points. There was also the Las Vegas GP double disqualification for the McLaren for the plank wear.The four-time F1 champion came out after the Qatar GP and detailed his championship chances, and suggested that he was in the title fight only because of others' failures and would've won the title with multiple races to spare had he been in a car as dominant as the McLaren.Zak Brown, speaking with F1TV at the 2025 season finale at Yas Marina was questioned about how he read Max Verstappen's claims, and whether the comments were an attempt by the Dutchman to play mind games. The McLaren CEO responded,“I think I enjoy the banter, and the conversations. I think those are, you know, drivers winding each other, which is normal in sport. You think about boxing and the commentary they all have towards each other. I don’t take it too seriously.”Max Verstappen downplays the title battle ahead of the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP As Max Verstappen appeared in front of the media on press day at Yas Marina, the Red Bull driver was questioned about his preparation ahead of the all-important final race. The Dutchman detailed that he didn't do anything special to prepare for the weekend, and downplayed the expectations.“I’m very relaxed, nothing to lose. I’m just enjoying being here, but for me it’s not even about being here – I’ve been enjoying the second half of the season, working with the team and how we’ve been able to turn things around from difficult times,” said Verstappen“To me everything here is just a bonus and sitting here fighting for the title. That’s also what makes it really straightforward for me. We will just try to have a good weekend, but even then it’s not really in my control, so I guess I’ll just try to enjoy it,” he addedThe four-time F1 champion needs to win the race and have Lando Norris finish P4 or lower to take home his fifth title. For Norris, the Briton just needs to finish on the podium to be crowned as the F1 champion.