Max Verstappen: ‘I have nothing to lose’ as title fight ramps up.
Max Verstappen remains level-headed about his championship chances after closing the gap to Oscar Piastri in Baku.
The 2025 Formula 1 title fight was between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with the latter holding a nearly 100-point lead over Max Verstappen entering September. However, the Dutchman grabbed two sensationally dominant victories in Monza and Azerbaijan.
After a rare off-weekend for Piastri, who crashed out in both Qualifying and the race, the gap has dropped significantly to 69 points (44 behind Norris), making Verstappen a mathematical contender for the title. If the four-time world champion were to secure a late title bid, he would need to outscore Piastri at least 10 points per race (there are currently 199 points left up for grabs, including three Sprints).
As the F1 paddock heads to Asia for the 18th round of the season, the pressure is on for Verstappen, who, out of the 24-track calendar, has never won at Singapore. When asked during Thursday's media activities about how significant the race could be for his title bid, Verstappen nonchalantly responded:
“It’s like any other, I just try to do my best.
“Of course, I know in the past this has not been particularly our strongest track, plus sometimes a bit unfortunate to [not] get a better result around here.
Verstappen was then asked whether he feels he has a chance at a late title bid. The Dutchman remained level headed, stating he’s taking things as they come:
“I have nothing to lose, really,” Verstappen said.
“And as a team, we approach it like that, too. Sixty-nine points is still a lot, especially when you look at how the season has gone so far, and McLaren have been incredibly dominant. That doesn’t suddenly change.
“But I am not too stressed about anything. I am enjoying what I am doing in F1 and outside of F1 and trying to do the best I can every time I jump into the car.
“Some tracks will be better, some worse, and this could be one of those. But if we win it, great, and if we don’t we don’t. Life goes on.
“If we can win a few more races that would be nice, and if that means we still didn’t win the world championship then so be it.”
During the off weekend, Verstappen made his debut in the GT3 Nürburgring Nordschleife 4 hours.
Driving a Ferrari 296 GT3, Verstappen slotted into third but overtook both cars ahead at the first corner.
He and teammate Chris Lulham went on to dominate for the remainder of the race, before securing victory over 24 seconds ahead of second place. A sensational end to an incredible racing month in September for Verstappen.
“This was already my plan, and [there are] things that I wanted to do outside of F1, but it takes times to prepare these kind of things,” he said when asked about his extracurricular activity in GT3.
“Finally, that came together.”
Verstappen went on to reveal what he learned during his debut:
“I’ve done that already for a lot of years on the simulator, driving these kinds of cars.
“There is also learning the track better in the wet, damp, knowing every kerb, every bump even more from new tyres to old tyres, high fuel, low fuel, dealing with traffic…
“Everything felt super natural because I’ve been doing this for many years on the sim, multi-class racing, and it is exactly the same.
“I had a lot of fun. Also with my team mate, Chris [Lulham], for him to do that race, I think we had a good time together.”
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