'Everything needs to go perfectly' – Verstappen on his title chances after back-to-back wins

Max Verstappen has cautioned that “everything needs to go perfectly” for him if he hopes to close the gap in the championship and bid for the title, despite the Dutchman bolstering his points tally after scoring back-to-back wins in Italy and Azerbaijan.

While McLaren faced a challenging weekend in Baku – which saw championship leader Oscar Piastri crash out of the race on Lap 1, while Lando Norris had to settle for P7 – Verstappen enjoyed a dominant outing, converting pole position into a commanding victory.

During a chat with Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix, Verstappen was asked if the new floor recently introduced on Red Bull’s car has had a particular impact on their performance level over these past weekends.

“I think it’s just a combination of a lot of things that are going better in the last few weeks, so we understood a bit more about the car,” the reigning World Champion explained. “Of course it’s two low-downforce tracks, so we have to wait and see how we are going to perform again on a high-downforce track.

“But for now we’re just very happy with what we’re doing, and then we’ll just find out [at] the upcoming races how that will go on other kinds of layouts.”

With seven rounds remaining in the 2025 season, Verstappen’s run of wins has seen him close the gap to Piastri down to 69 points, while he tails second-placed Norris by 44 points.

When quizzed on whether he still sees opportunities to make gains should McLaren have further difficult weekends, Verstappen responded: “It’s seven races to go and it’s still 69 points – it’s a lot.

“Basically everything needs to go perfectly from my side, and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well, so it’s still very tough.”

Speaking further on the topic in Sunday’s post-race press conference, the 27-year-old reiterated that he is taking each event as it comes.

Asked if Red Bull’s recent increase in competitiveness had given him hope that the title could still be within reach, Verstappen answered: “I mean, I don’t rely on hope.

“I personally don’t think about it. I just go race by race, what I have been doing basically the whole season – just trying to do the best we can, try to score the most points that we can. And then after Abu Dhabi, we’ll know.”