Despite his fifth consecutive title remaining just out of reach due to an inconsistent season for Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen will be remembered as the moral victor of 2025. Amidst all the challenges, he remained cool-headed and took the reins of the struggling team. Here’s an exclusive conversation.
– Max, there’s often talk in the paddock about the car, the setup, the strategies, but how important is mental strength in all of this?
“Yes, incredibly important! Not everyone can handle pressure equally well, it has to be somewhat innate. Many things can be learned, but some aspects must really be part of your personality, and you can’t fully learn those. For me, I think it’s a combination of innate and learned. From a young age, it was always: Don’t complain too much, don’t whine, just go!”
“Dealing with disappointments is also part of it. I’m generally quite down-to-earth. I can put things into perspective quickly and not worry too much about them. I try to draw extra strength and motivation from both a victory and a disappointment, that’s always the goal. But I must say, whether I’ve had a good or a bad race, I’m almost always very neutral in my emotions. Both in euphoria and in negativity. And that keeps everything quite simple and clear for me.”
‘I never worry too much’
– Are you like this outside of the sport as well?
“Yes, actually. I never worry too much. Maybe I should worry more sometimes, but I don’t. Life just goes on. And if you have a problem, you try to solve it.”
– That sounds easier said than done. Isn’t that sometimes a bit of a mask? Red Bull had a difficult first part of the season. That must eat away at you a bit inside, right?
“Well, not so much actually. I’m also busy with so many other things outside of Formula 1. So when the race hasn’t gone well or even badly and I come home in the evening, I’m already thinking about other things in my head. My whole life doesn’t revolve around Formula 1. And because of that, I’m quite neutral and I can always put everything that happens into perspective very quickly.”
(Text continues below the photo)
Do you ever have sleepless nights after a bad race?
“No, not really. When I wake up, I do think about it. And then I analyze in my head what we can do and what we need to look at, but I try to lose as little energy as possible. Because lying awake and worrying doesn’t help at all. I’d rather sleep well.”
That’s something you need to be able to do. Many athletes have mental coaches?
“That’s different for everyone, but it wouldn’t be for me. Absolutely not.”
‘Low Battery Mode’
I’d like to take you to the moments before the start of a race. There’s always a lot of hustle and bustle on the grid. With team members, but also with media, VIPs, and other people. Does that never distract you?
“No, not at all. I’m in tunnel vision then, I know what I need to do and I focus on that. It’s comparable to the low battery mode on your mobile phone. I’m not concerned with what’s happening in some corner. Music here, interview there, those kind of peripheral issues actually pass me by. I’m already fully focused on the race and what awaits me.”
– How do you maintain focus during the race, which typically lasts over an hour and a half? Do your thoughts ever wander?
“You must, of course, prevent that at all times. You’re always busy with things. Sometimes, when you’re leading and the gap is only getting bigger, you’re still trying to think about things you can improve on the car. Or you’re communicating with the pit wall, of course. You always have to stay focused. These are fast cars where a mistake is easily made. A shopping list for home? Haha, no, I don’t think about that.”
– This season, you’ve clearly taken control and led the entire team during a difficult phase, and when there was a lot of unrest off the track, which later also led to the departure of team boss Christian Horner. It seems like you’ve really stepped up as the team leader in every respect.
A ‘Natural Process’
“It’s always important to say what’s going well and what’s not, regardless of how a sporting weekend goes. I do that more now than before, which is logical. Over time, you get to know more people, you get to know the team better, you know who is responsible for what, you gain more experience, and you understand much better what the car does and what can be adjusted. That’s actually a natural process. And of course, you have to know what you’re talking about.”
– Is it difficult for you to be very firm or very direct at times and to push people to go the extra mile?
“I don’t see it that way. It’s mainly a matter of being clear with each other. Pointing out what was good and what wasn’t, what needs to be adjusted and what doesn’t. I always say: if it’s good, it’s good and that should be said. But if it’s bad, that should also be said. That certainly applies to me as well. If I do something poorly, that definitely needs to be pointed out.”
– Can you handle criticism well?
“If it’s substantiated, absolutely! If someone just blurts something out, well, I obviously don’t benefit from that. But that doesn’t bother me. I don’t benefit from it. And a lot of things that are written go over my head. My father reads everything. So if I need to know something, I ask him or he tells me. I don’t follow much of the Formula 1 in the media. I’m not interested.”
Insights into the World of Formula 1
Are there a lot of mental games played in Formula 1? Or is there a lot of politics involved?
“There’s a lot of politics. Always. But I don’t need that.”
Not to provoke
You’ve once said, after the GP of Japan: ‘If I had been in a McLaren, I would already be in Tokyo.’
“Haha, but that’s just a fact! It’s not meant to provoke. Not even subconsciously. It’s just a fact. And nobody has to agree with it, but that’s how I see it. That’s my opinion. Some people might not like to hear it, but that’s not my problem in the end. I don’t say it to provoke or bait anyone, but if I’m asked something, I usually just answer. And yes, it’s a fact.”
Do you drivers ever talk about what you say about each other?
“Not very much, to be honest. But when you’re somewhere with other drivers, there are usually cameras and microphones around. So then I don’t feel like saying too much.”
Relaxation and Passion for Cars
On a different note. Between races, you seem to know how to relax well and mentally unwind completely. Yet, you’re often still involved with cars, like all the activities of Max Verstappen.com Racing. Does that give you a lot of energy?
“Yes, I really enjoy doing that.”
‘Doesn’t Make Me Worse’
Do you gain new insights from this? In other words, does it make you a better driver?
“It doesn’t make me worse. A GT car needs to be driven differently, you’re dealing with different things and the skills you learn in Formula 1 can of course also be applied to GT cars. Moreover, you drive on certain circuits, such as the Nürburgring, where you don’t go with Formula 1. This keeps your technical skills tuned. But I also do that on the simulator. You learn the most in Formula 1 and you can apply that knowledge and skills in the GT world, even though it is quite specific in some respects.”
Your father has been driving rallies in recent years and has been quite successful. Are there things he takes away from such a rally weekend that you can benefit from?
“We often talk about rally driving. There can be some overlap in terms of certain partnerships, but not much else.”
You play a sort of mentor role for younger drivers on the grid. How does that come about?
“It happens very spontaneously and naturally. Look, if I’m asked something and I like the person, I don’t mind explaining certain things or sharing my view on something. I get along well with someone like Gabriel Bortoleto. He’s just a very nice guy with a good character. You don’t come across that very often. Other young drivers also regularly ask me things. That’s how we interact. It’s mainly because we enjoy racing and we don’t pretend to be anything we’re not.”
Where does that mentor role stop? I assume you won’t help Lando Norris anymore?
“He’s not a rookie anymore, of course. But when it comes to the new guys: at some point that changes too, of course. They gain more experience, form their own opinions and in the end they are mainly reliant on themselves. That’s logical. That’s always how it goes and that’s how it should be.”
‘No Desire to Become a Team Boss’
Did you have a mentor in your first year on the grid?
“My father. No, not other drivers. But I grew up differently than most. If you have a father who has raced in Formula 1, who understands a lot of things and knows exactly how that world works, you don’t need another mentor.”
With your experience as a driver, your mentoring role towards other drivers, and your involvement with Verstappen.com Racing, you actually have the ideal profile of a team boss.
“Haha, but I’m not going to become that in Formula 1. I really don’t feel like it. If you’re the team boss of an F1 team, you have to live in England or Italy, and I don’t see myself doing that. These are practical objections, but I find such a role too big, much too big. It’s not what I enjoy or aspire to. If you’ve been racing in Formula 1 for years and you decide to stop, you’re also done with it for a while, I imagine. I then want to do other things. Also racing, but on a smaller scale and in my own way.”
Are you going to elevate Verstappen.com Racing to a higher level?
“I’m not normally going to work in Formula 1 or another Formula class. It’s much more logical for me to go into endurance racing. I want to invest more time in that and play a more central and very active role. But I don’t see myself as someone who leads the daily operation, because that would mean you have to be involved almost every day and be on site.”
A kind of remote supervisor?
“More of an owner who knows about racing. That’s not always the case, right?”
Reflecting on the Past Season
Finally, let’s talk about the past season. Roughly, you can divide the season into two. There was the frustration of the first half when things were not going well, and the tension of the second half when you made significant progress and every point counted. Which half emotionally cost you the most energy?
“My dedication has always been the same, regardless of the results on the track. It’s more enjoyable to go to the circuit knowing that you have a good chance of a positive outcome, but my commitment remains the same.”
‘Beautiful Journey’
You’ve said that you’re satisfied with the season, regardless of the final position in the World Championship standings.
“The fact that I didn’t become world champion certainly wasn’t due to me.”
Of course, it’s been a very challenging season for you. Was that enjoyable in itself, and perhaps even more enjoyable than, for example, a top year in which you won 19 out of 22 races?
“No, not at all. 2023 was much more enjoyable. Much better. There were many races this season that were worthless. But these kinds of fluctuations are part of Formula 1, you know that. The fact that we managed to turn things around this season does give a certain satisfaction and in that sense, you might consider it a beautiful journey. On the other hand, it also produced many frustrating moments. So no, give me 2023.”
Doesn’t this past season give you more satisfaction?
“You know, it’s not about the satisfaction. I know I can do it. I’ve already shown that. It’s not like this year it had to come more from my toes or from the team’s toes than in 2023, for example. That’s really a misunderstanding. When I won 19 out of 22 races, I always gave it my all. Everyone thought it was very easy because it maybe looked easy. But it looked so easy because I always gave everything and tried to get the maximum out of it. Just like I tried this season. Only well, the car was just less this season. But the intensity from me personally is always the same. The hunger is and always remains.”
