Verstappen says title underdog status helped fans appreciate him more

Max Verstappen believes he received more support as a result of being the underdog in the 2025 Formula 1 championship fight, but says he showed his true colors despite not winning the title.

Lando Norris won his first drivers’ championship by just two points, holding off a late charge from Verstappen who took victory in six of the final nine rounds of the season. That fightback allowed Verstappen – who had won the previous four titles in a row – to gain further fan support as he came back into contention, but he says he also showed that he doesn’t change regardless of the competitive situation he is in.

“Naturally with an underdog role, people will start to support you a bit more,” Verstappen told Red Bull’s Talking Bull podcast. “But I guess maybe they finally start to realize who I am – who I really am.

“What you see is what you get. Good or bad. I mean, it works for me. It's how I want to be. Don't try to be a fake person in the paddock or whatever. That's just not how I am.

“Especially in F1, when you have a lot of success or in general, you're doing well, it's easy to maybe forget about that. But that's why it's very important to always have the most important people around you that actually do tell you if you're maybe acting a bit out, or weird. And I am very lucky that, of course, I have great family, but also really good friends.”

Verstappen said he viewed the end to 2025 as a massive positive despite missing out on the championship, considering that he never felt he was in the frame for the title until the final third of the season.

“That's why also when I crossed the line, I personally wasn't too disappointed because in the middle of the season, I felt like the championship was not on at all," he said. "So to be back in that fight all the way till the end, to lose it by two points, at the end of the day, it also doesn't matter. If you lose it by one point or 20 or 50, you don't win it, as simple as that. That's why I don't dwell on these kind of things.

“There's a difference when you're constantly fighting for the championship throughout the year and then lose out by two points. That's different. That's not nice. But for the first 14, 15 races, I personally never thought about the championship in my head. So everything that came after was just a bonus, and then eventually it turned out to be that close.

“People in general take life way too seriously, and especially also with your profession. Yes, it is super important to be successful, and to do a good job, but at the end of the day, you do that until what [age]? Maybe 40? I mean, that's not even the average [for a driver], right?

"There’s only some extraordinary drivers that stay in it a little bit longer. But after that, you still have a lot of years to enjoy or do something else in your life. And then honestly, it doesn't really matter what you have done.

“When I'm going to be 50 years old, 60 years old, do you think I care if I've won four (championships) or seven? What is that going to matter to my life? I'm still going to order the same drink. I'm still going to eat the same food. It's not going to change what I'm going to do after in my life. So that's why I try to also just look at it a lot more in like a relaxed way.

“Just don't stress about it. Stress is very bad for you. And you're going to die sooner if you have a lot of stress. So I'm going to be 250 years old!”